The Beauty of Life
by DarqueDeath4444
Summary: Having been born at a Jashin temple, Sakura had been exposed the the Jashinist ways since she was young. A few days after her ritual of choosing and obtaining Immortality, her temple is attacked, where she is the only survivor and is taken in by Konoha. There, Sakura struggles to fit in and understand the value of life and the beauty in living, instead of simply surviving.
1. Life is like a piece of Music

**Okay, so we just thought 'what the heck', and we flipped a coin and it landed on heads, which meant 'post', and so, we posted this one too.**

 **Also, the SakuraxMulti one has also been posted.**

 **Details at the bottom.**

 _ **Chapter ONE**_

There was logic behind everything young Janshinists were taught.

You listened to god.

Jashin was god, and therefore, you listened to Jashin.

Jashin told you to kill and therefore, you killed.

It was an honor to be chosen, but only few were actually chosen, and therefore, you worked harder to be picked.

Once chosen, service, or sacrifice, made you immortal, and therefore, you sacrificed.

This was no different to Sakura either.

* * *

Sakura was one of the few who had been born within the temple walls. The moment she had been born, she had been placed within the care of all other nursing women. All children were raised in a group, so that they were exposed from the beginning to the loyal followers of Jashin.

Sakura, currently five, had already seen her first ever sacrificial ritual. Having been brought up in a place where blood and pain was a part of daily life, she had soaked in this new view like with a disturbing level of glee.

Well, disturbing everywhere but the Jashinist temples.

And today, like every other day, she was sitting in on another sacrificial ritual.

The teen who was playing sacrificer was one of the few chosen. He had been picked a year prior and Sakura had had the honor of being there when he has been granted the gift of immortality.

In fact, he had been chosen on her very first experience of the ritual. That had done thing but fuel her want to be chosen by their god.

The last of the pained screams died away as the sacrifice, some man from a village nearby, bled his life away from the wounds decorating his entire body. Crimson puddled around the limp man and Sakura decided that she had never seen anything more beautiful.

The silver haired teen turned around, smiling through the blood splatters on his face. His purple eyes widened in glee when he saw her.

"I always see you around, brat. Fucking keen, aren't you?" He swung his scythe to the side, flinging blood everywhere.

Sakura ignored the blood now staining her white kimono in favor of stepping forward a little. It was the first time the teen actually talked to her.

She didn't voice that she didn't know what 'Fuck' meant.

Not knowing how to reply, she asked a question she had been itching to ask.

"How does it feel to be immortal?" Her eyes flickered occasionally to the already healing wounds on the teen's body, the worst of them being a pierced lung, not that he seemed to notice. The skeleton, which was proof of their gods gift, had faded as well.

"Fucking great." The teen told her.

Again, that word.

Sakura frowned but before she could give into her childish curiosity, a man in his late forties stepped into the room, frown in place.

"Hidan."

The teen turned to glare at Daigo, who was the unofficial leader of this particular temple. He was also the one that taught the youngest followers taijutsu, then the slightly older or the ones with more potential to wield a scythe.

Sakura had begun her scythe training shortly after her first ritual with a boy a few months older than her, something that impressed everyone to no end.

Daigo nodded at Sakura, having recognized her, before turning back to Hidan "I told you to return after you finished off."

Hidan sighed dramatically. "This fucking kid distracted me."

At this, Sakura spoke up. "Hey!" She crossed her arms. "You stopped to talk to me."

Daigo's frown deepened.

Hidan spluttered, probably not expecting for the usually shy, quiet girl to sell him out.

Daigo sighed. "Hidan, get back. Sakura," He turned to her. "Head over to training. We'll start on the procedure of the sacrificial ritual."

* * *

The Jashin temple Sakura lived in was located on the border between the Fire country and the Rain country. It consisted of two Immortals, five other followers, and three children, two of which were temple born. Those who weren't were either brought by their parent worshipers, or were children of some sacrifice or another.

Hidan was one of two Immortals in the village, the other being Daigo. However, the man was already old and could be considered a 'retired' Shinobi. He rarely went out to Sacrifice and would probably lose the gift of Immortality soon.

However, the man had just nodded, stating that he was satisfied with his life. He had lived a life far longer than the most healthiest, luckiest of shinobi and he thanked Jashin for that.

* * *

Two years after her first ritual, Sakura and Yuto were nominated for the ritual. They were two of many who went through with the Ritual of Choosing all around the Temples scattered in hidden locations.

There were those who didn't go through with it, such as the nursing women, and the traveling Jashinist Monks.

Hidan himself had left half a year ago on a journey to 'find more worthy Sacrifices'.

Sakura understood that, for there was a lack of people in the villages around them. Most were Sacrificed and others left in order to escape the case of 'Vanishing people'.

She had heard stories of others who had also left on similar journeys.

Then again, anyone who wasn't deemed worthy by their beloved God died, so it was impossible to meet someone who had failed the test.

Sakura and Yuto, her only classmate, were just younger than usual.

That didn't make them any less loyal, though.

* * *

Theory wise, Sakura had everything hammered into her mind after the very first session.

Yuto was as excited as she was when Daigo told them of the final test.

The ultimate test, the Ritual of Choosing, which would result in the final decision of Jashin-Immortality or death.

Many had gone through with it, believing themselves to be worthy. They would perform a technique they had been practicing ever since they could manipulate chakra.

The Jujutsu: Shiji Hyōketsu, which allowed them to link themselves to their sacrifice.

Then they would face the ultimate decision of Jashin.

A fatal blow.

To themselves.

Of course, being linked, the sacrifice died.

Whether the follower lived or died depended on whether or not their beloved god deemed them worthy. If he granted one Immortality, they survived. If he didn't, they died.

It was as simple as that.

Countless had bled out due to fatal, non healing wounds, but everyone kept trying.

After all, wasn't that what loyalty was about?

* * *

Sakura looked blankly down at the lifeless body of Yuto. There was blood dripping down from his mouth, his eyes wide, but blank.

She frowned at the blood on the floor, from both Yuto and the sacrifice, a young girl. There were people running around, cleaning the room in preparation for hers.

Daigo glanced over at her and smiled at her emotionless expression.

* * *

Even as Sakura felt the warm liquid of life leaving her body, she had never felt this alive.

Her whole body felt tingly and she felt laughter threatening to force its way out of her mouth.

Her sacrifice had stopped screaming long ago, but since she was still alive, the poor boy must have been knocked out due to pain.

And when she felt a familiar, comforting warmth spreading within her, she knew that she would forever live for her beloved god.

* * *

 **Meh...**

 **Leave a review if you like it...**

* * *

 **A Wish upon those Eyes of Green:**

 **Born with a power considered both a blessing and a curse, Uchiha Sakura, younger sister of Madara and Izuna, grew up hidden within the compound. When Izuna is mortally wounded by Tobirama, her gift heals him of his fatal injury. However, one event leads to another and the Uchiha and the Senju agree to a truce, and Sakura is thrust out into the world she had been shielded from.**

 **Read and Review!**


	2. Only the Lyrics is messed up

_**Chapter TWO**_

They had all sensed the multiple chakra signatures approaching. None of them had known what exactly is was and there was a hint of uneasiness in the air but Daigo had kept them calm.

The smoke had been what had warned everyone of the fire. At first, no one had linked it to a possible invasion.

Attacks on Jashinist temples had never been heard of.

And by the time that had become obvious, there was nothing much anyone could do. Those from the temple were heavily outnumbered and most of them weren't at top shape. The attackers, whoever they were, stormed the temple from all sides.

Sakura had been one of the youngest, but she was the only Immortal there. She had been forced to watch her fellow Jashinists be cut down one by one and be swallowed up by the flames.

Anger and the need to erase anyone who dared to disrespect her beloved god fueled her, and Sakura kept fighting.

Her own blood combined with the blood of her enemies, making the grip on her scythe slippery.

However, immortal or not, not even she could keep fighting forever. Even if she couldn't die, she needed a few things to keep moving.

She was already beginning to feel lightheaded from the lack of blood.

The last thing she remembered was being stabbed right through by half a dozen swords and collapsing, before the roof of the temple came caving down.

* * *

The news of an all out invasion against some religious temple in the Fire Country reached the Hokage rather quickly,

Team Ro, an ANBU team consisting of Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, Tenzo and Uzuki Yugao, were sent out to investigate.

Though independent, temples within a the country were under the political protection of said country and directs acts against one could lead to something much more.

And even if he did found it an interference in his reading, Kakashi would head out under the orders of Namikaze Minato, who also happened to be his teacher. And it was not because Minato had some sadistic side hidden away behind that kind looking smile that liked giving his Genin team hideous D rank missions as punishment.

Team Ro was a very skilled team and it didn't take them too long to reach the outskirts of the scene. Even from a distance, Kakashi could see the fading smoke from a fire and a huge black blob some distance away, which was no doubt the remains of the temple.

"Do you sense anything?"

This question was aimed at the sensor of the team.

Yugao narrowed her eyes. "...Yes." She said after a while. "It's flickering, but it's there. Still alive."

Kakashi nodded. "Approach with caution." After all, they wouldn't know it this chakra signature was a survivor, or something else.

The smell of blood and dead burnt bodies reached his nose long before he had set foot on the actual temple. Once he had climbed through what he assumed was the main gate, Kakashi caught sign of a young boy buried under the collapsed roof. There were weapons lying around, and Kakashi thought it was safe to say that the people of the temple had fought back.

Yugao pointed further into the temple." The chakra signatures coming from under there."

Kakashi nodded. Though not as accurately as Yugao, even he could now sense this chakra signature. "Itachi, move the debris. The rest of us will cover."

The young Uchiha nodded briskly, then moved to follow the order.

The rest of the team spread out so that they had the prodigy covered from three different directions.

"It's moving." Yugao murmured. "I presume that it's awake."

Itachi gave a curt nod to show that he had heard.

The moment he had moved the biggest of the debris, something flew out at him.

Itachi deflected the attack with a kunai he had pulled from his pouch in the split second he had, then shoved his assailant backwards. He jumped back and instantly, his teammates moved to cover him. As he landed, he noted the splatter of blood that had hit his cheek and wondered where it had come from.

He hadn't been cut.

However, not even he was prepared to see the true sight of his attacker.

The young girl stand in front of him barely looked seven and didn't look human. Though she was covered from head to toe in blood, Itachi could see the piercing green eyes glaring out at them from behind crimson bangs.

He couldn't tell the natural color of her hair, but that wasn't what had made his pause for a second.

The girl was bleeding from multiple stab wounds, the blades still sticking out of her. A few of the swords had pierced right through. It seemed like the only thing keeping her standing was the double bladed scythe she was leaning heavily against.

The again, even Itachi knew that it was impossible to be conscious, never mind standing, at the state she was in.

The girl snarled and the movement of her hand caught Itachi's eye.

She reached towards one of the swords piercing her right through where her liver probably was and yanked it out in one go. Blood splattered the floor and the sword clattered to the ground as she threw it behind her. She kept a hand on the wound for a few seconds, the reached for the next sword.

She yanked out the next sword and slid it out. She tossed it away, then raised the crimson coated hand to her face and licked the blood. She let out a sigh, and had Itachi not just witnessed what was probably the most disturbing thing in his life, he would have thought she sounded almost...ecstatic

"We need to stop her." Kakashi said. "She'll bleed out at this rate and we need her to tell us what happened here."

The four of them moved forward at once.

Itachi saw the girl's eyes widen in shock, just before he vanished behind her. He reached out to press a pressure point, but had to withdraw when the girl swung her scythe behind her with surprising speed. As he did so, the mechanism in the middle of the handle caught his eye.

He saw Yugao moving in, and realized what it was when the girl swung one arm back, but only one of the blades moved with her counter attack.

"Yugao!" His sharp call alerted the sensor that something was wrong and she moved back before the girl swung her scythe down on her, escaping with only a small scratch on her hand.

The double scythe could be detached and become two separate scythes.

Usually, an ANBU team such as theirs would have no problem knocking out some girl. However, Itachi realized that she was no ordinary girl.

For one, her wounds were no longer bleeding. Had she healed them when she had touched it earlier?

"Who-" The girl coughed roughly. "Who are you?" She lowered into a stance and from the way she held her weapons, Itachi knew that she knew how to use them.

Though he had to admit, it was a weird choice of weapon. No matter the daunting size and shape of the blades, a scythe was much less practical compared to a sword.

"Are you related to those bastards that attacked earlier?"

Itachi instantly saw the chance to maybe stop the battle and talk and Kakashi sensed it too.

"We aren't related." Kakashi said. He straightened and put his weapon away. He raised his hands to show that he was no threat. "We were sent to see what had happened."

"You serve someone?" The girl trailed off in thought. "Konoha shinobi?"

The girl was pretty smart too.

Kakashi simply nodded but did not offer any additional information. It would be foolish to give out too much.

"And what do you fucking want?" The girl asked.

Itachi frowned at the language.

Though team Ro had lowered their weapons, the girl kept a tight grip on hers. She moved her right leg backwards, her blood trailing behind the limb.

"We are here under the orders of the Hokage." Kakashi said.

The girl sneered. Itachi noted that she had finished whatever she had been drawing on the ground, and tensed himself for a possible attack.

"I asked what you are doing here, not who sent you!" The girl twirled one of her scythes and brought the blade up to her lips. "I'll give you one more chance to answer."

"We would like you to come back with us." Kakashi said. "You need to tell us what exactly happened here."

The girl's eyes widened, and her eyes ran over the destruction in the background. "Jashin-sama..." Itachi barely caught the whispered. "Those fucking bastards...How dare they..." Her grip on her weapons tightened. "What if I don't wanna go with you?" The girl asked.

"We'll have no choice but to bring you by force." Kakashi answered easily.

The girl frowned. "What do I do, Jashin-sama?" It was once again, whispered.

However, now, Itachi was sure of what the girl had said.

He had read of the name Jashin once or twice.

Kakashi looked like he was waiting patiently but Itachi knew that the ANBU was ready to move any time.

The girl slowly stuck her tongue out and licked the blood at the tip of her scythe. Kakashi was behind her the moment he felt the surge of chakra and the girl collapsed, knocked out.

What no one could explain was why Yugao went unconscious a second later.

* * *

 **So, chapter two.**

 **First, we know that perhaps, Sakura managed to fend of the ANBU team too well, especially considering who is on said team. However...meh...**

 **Yeah...**

 **Please just deal with it...**

* * *

 _ **Darque: I have-**_

 **Raven: Exam tomorrow. I know.**

 _ **Darque: I was-**_

 **Ravenn: Telling out readers. I know**

 _ **Darque: Oh-**_

 **Raven: Gods. I know.**

 _ **Darque...**_

 **Raven: What? I was bored.**

 **Read and Review!**


	3. Life is like a Mountain

_**Chapter THREE**_

Nara Shikaku was called out of his office the moment he got there. A Chunin appeared in his office and directed him towards the hospital. Shikaku knew that Team Ro that returned from their mission early that morning and sighed, wondering if it had anything to do with it.

The nurse at the front desk directed him towards one of the secured rooms for hostages or prisoners and he wondered what kind of person Team Ro had found.

What he didn't expect was to find a young girl, barely older that his son, strapped down to the bed. A deadly looking scythe leaned on the bed frame near by. The girl was unconscious and Shikaku could see the drugs being pumped into her to keep her under.

"Shikaku-san."

The Nara head looked up and bowed briefly at the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. "Hokage-sama."

The blond man stepped forward so that he was standing beside Shikaku. He crossed his arms and glanced down at the girl, his eyes softening. "Team Ro returned today with her. They say that the girl was injured with several stab wounds, but there were no signs of heavy injuries on her. She was the sole survivor of the temple attack."

Shikaku sighed. Just then, Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi entered the room. They greeted the Hokage, then joined them by the bed.

"I need you guys to figure out what exactly happened." Minato said. "I will have the medic wake her up."

A nurse entered the room and messed around with the machinery. Instantly, the drugs within the pipes stopped moving and a few minutes later, the girl began to stir.

Her hand twitched, before her eyes flew open, revealing her emerald green eyes. Her eyes widened and she instantly began struggling.

Minato quickly leaned over, smiling gently. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you."

The girl snarled and her head shot forward, teeth bared. Minato stepped back, dodging the feral bite that threatened to tear out his throat with plenty of time to spare but still looking shocked. Inoichi instantly moved forward to restrain her but Minato stopped him.

"Really. You're in Konoha. You're safe here."

"Where are they?" The girl snarled. "Those bastards. I'll kill them!" She yanked harshly at her restraints.

Minato gestured towards the nurse, who nodded. A medication with calming effects was inserted into her bloodstream and a second later, the girl fell back onto the bed, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Minato asked.

"Do I look okay?" The girl sighed, but the breath caught in her throat halfway. "My scythe. Where is it?"

Minato gestured towards the weapon leaning on the bed and the girl turned her head with difficulty, relaxing the moment she caught sight of it. "Why am I here? What do you want?"

Minato nodded at Ibiki and stepped back.

"We'll start simple." Ibiki said. "Who are you?"

"Sakura." The girl said.

"Sakura...?" Ibiki trailed off.

"Just Sakura." The girl said.

"Okay Sakura." Ibiki didn't press. "You were at the temple during the attack?"

Sakura's muscles instantly tightened and she clenched her fists a few times, before she forced herself to relax. "Yeah." She didn't elaborate.

After a while, Ibiki pressed on. "Why were you there? Do you know the attackers?"

"I lived there." The girl said. "And I don't know those Bastards."

"You lived in the temple?" Ibiki shot Minato a glance. "Since when?"

"Since I was born." Sakura said. "I was born and raised there."

"So you don't know why your temple was attacked?"

Sakura raised a mocking eyebrow. "Really? Do you even _know_ was what kind of religious temple it is?"

Minato was the one that spoke up. "On the temple list the Daimyo had, it was listed down as 'general'.

The girl scoffed. "No wonder you're wondering about the reason. It's obvious that we weren't exactly well liked."

"And why's that?" Ibiki asked calmly.

"I really don't understand why people don't like having their family sacrificed, though." The girl said. "They should be grateful. It's a great honor."

It took a moment for the girl's words to register. Shikaku was having a very bad feeling. Something was tickling the back of his mind. "And what is this religion?" He asked.

"Jashinism." Sakura said cheerily. "I am a loyal follower of my beloved god, Jashin-sama."

* * *

Minato softly closed the door behind him. Once it was completely shut, he turned to the three shinobi following him, eyes serious. "Jashin."

Shikaku nodded. "She's so young..."

"Jashinism." Inoichi repeated. "The religion known to follow a god that demands blood and sacrifices?"

Shikaku sighed. "Yeah."

Inoichi looked torn between disgusted or horrified and Shikaku understood. Inoichi too, had a daughter around the girl's age.

"What are we going to do with her?" Shikaku asked.

"We'll have to keep her confined for a while." Minato said softly. "We can't have her running around loosely. We don't know what kind of teachings have been engraved into her but we need to find out before we allow her free."

"We don't know what kind of monster is hidden within." Ibiki said. He scoffed at the looks he received. "What? We're talking about a follower of some insane god. What was considered normal in her temple will probably be punishable by death here."

Minato nodded firmly. "We'll have to keep her confined for a while." He repeated. "Then we'll need someone to watch her. I'll have an ANBU tail her as well."

Shikaku sighed. "How troublesome."

* * *

A week after that, Sakura was still confined to the hospital, and she would continue to be until arrangements could be made. Her restraints had been changed into four long pieces of chain, one for each limb. It suppressed chakra, but allowed Sakura to move around a little. The Hokage had been kind enough to give her a kit for taking care of weapons and Sakura spent most of her time cleaning her scythe.

Sakura stopped her hand movement and glanced towards the window, where an ANBU was stationed. Sakura knew this ANBU. He had been on the team that came to the temple. She quickly glanced down at her weapon, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Uh...ANBU-san?" She called out.

The ANBU didn't speak, but he did tilt his head in her direction to let her know he had heard.

"How long have I been here?"

It was silent, before a soft voice answered. "Ten days."

Sakura frowned. That meant she had been unconscious for three days, and that was ten days without a single sacrifice. The thought sent a sudden feeling of dread through her. Her fingers twitched, wishing for the feeling of flesh crumbling beneath her hands.

Now that the thought entered her mind, she couldn't shake it off. By the end of the day, she was literally trembling. Finally, when she dropped her spoon due to her shaking, the ANBU approached her. Scowling, she clutched at her hand in a fatal attempt to stop her shaking.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura resisted the urge to snap back a retort. "I..." She took a deep breath. "I need to kill something. I...Jashin-sama..." She reached out shakily and picked up her scythe. She saw the ANBU tense, ready to move, but she simply twirled her blade around.

Then she stabbed herself.

* * *

Which Itachi had been prepared for an attack or an attempted escape, he hadn't been ready for the girl stabbing herself. And so, it took him two heartbeats instead of one to shoot forward and grasp the girl's wrist.

Sakura gasped, eyes wide and lips turned up in an unpleasant smile. He gripped the handle of the scythe and held it there, making sure that the girl couldn't drive the blade deeper into herself. He flared his chakra and in an instant, Inoichi and Shikaku appeared in the room. A second later, Minato appeared with a doctor. They must have been coming for a visit.

Without a word, Inoichi moved to help Itachi with the scythe. Shikaku restrained the girl with her shadow. The second Sakura's eyes widened and her body went stiff, Itachi yanked the scythe away from the girl's grip.

The girl gasped but when she didn't attempt to struggle, Shikaku carefully let her go.

"What were you doing, Sakura-chan?" Minato asked.

Sakura blinked a few times and the foggy haze of ecstasy slowly vanished from her eyes. "Jashin-sama requires a sacrifice in exchange for the wonderful gift he has bestowed upon me." She said. "I must pay him back."

"Pay him back..." Minato paused. "What is this gift you speak of?"

Sakura didn't seem to hear him. "If I cannot sacrifice anyone, I'll offer up my own blood." She blindly reached out for her scythe again. Itachi held it out of her reach.

"Give it back...I need...please...I..." She began breathing heavily.

"Itachi."

The Uchiha looked up at his name and lowered his head. "Hokage-sama."

"Bring me Ibiki." Minato ordered.

* * *

 **So...yeah...**

 **Meh.**

 **Here's chapter three.**

 **Ye...**

 ** _Darque: So, I am into the Chinese New Year holidays!_**

 **Raven: So lucky. You're not even Chinese and you get to have holiday.**

 ** _Darque: Well, I live in Hong Kong, you know? Besides, who can say no to holiday? NO SCHOOL!_**

 **Raven: _sigh._**

 ** _Darque: Free free free free free~_**

 **Read and Review!**


	4. Hard to climb, but the view is beautiful

_**Chapter FOUR**_

Ibiki blinked. He stared directly into Minato's eyes then blinked again. "Are you serious?" He asked.

Minato nodded.

Ibiki glanced at Sakura, who had been subdued by some drug or another. She now lay on the bed, eyes blank and limbs limp. Itachi had placed her scythe back where it had been, leaning on the bed.

"Bring her for a session tomorrow. I'm sure you have someone." Minato said. "Wasn't there that Missing-nin from Iwa?"

Ibiki nodded. "The underling?" He sighed. "We have all the information we need from the leader." Ibiki said. "If we're allowed to get rid of him, yes, we do have someone."

Minato nodded, gaze heavy. "That'll be perfect."

* * *

Seven year old Nara Shikamaru sighed.

He hated it when his mother asked him (read: ordered him) to run an errand. And what made it worse was that his mother knew that he didn't like moving, and she was doing it just to annoy him.

Troublesome woman.

He stepped into the office building, his father's bento clutched in one hand, only to run into one of the Chunin that worked under his father. Suddenly feeling giddy, he called out to the Chunin, some dude called Inohara Tetsuji, and waited for him to notice.

Tetsuji blinked at him, then waved. "Hi, Shikamaru-kun!" He grinned. "Here to see your father?

Shikamaru raised his own hand in greeting, then walked up to him. "Yeah. Have you seen him?"

Tetsuji shrugged. "Unfortunately, he left a while ago. I think he's headed to the hospital."

"Hospital?" Shikamaru sighed.

"Yup. They caught some person and Hokage-sama's trying to figure out what to do with them, or something."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru turned to head out the office. "Thanks, Tetsuji-san."

* * *

The woman sitting at the front desk hesitated before directing Shikamaru towards the hospital room his father was often found in.

Shikamaru knew enough to recognize the room number and briefly noted that whoever was captured there must be dangerous. He glanced at the bento in his hand, weighing between the two evils.

A possibly dangerous prisoner or his mother's wrath...

He hoped the hospital restraints were strong.

* * *

He knocked on the door of the room and waited impatiently for a few seconds. When there was no reply, he slowly opened the door and peeked in. The first thing he caught sight of was a pink haired girl chained to the hospital bed. Her eyes were open, a sign that she was awake, but they seemed very empty.

Shikamaru shuddered.

He noted that there was no one else in here and was about to leave when he remembered the warning the nurse at the front desk had given him.

Was this girl the dangerous prisoner?

He sighed, muttering a 'troublesome' under his breath, before he slowly stepped into the room. He caught sight of the scythe resting against the bed frame, within reach of the girl's grasp, and steered clear of it. He stood beside the bed and watched the girl's piercing green eyes move slowly and finally land on him. However, she didn't say anything and instead, just glared him down with those piercing eyes of hers.

"How troublesome." He muttered.

"If it's troublesome, why're you here?" The girl snapped.

Shikamaru winced. "I was...looking for my father..."

"Nara Shikaku?"

The boy blinked. "Er...yeah."

"He left with Yamanaka Inoichi." She murmured, her previous fire all gone. "Something about lunch."

"Oh." Shikamaru glanced at the bento he was holding.

"You're Nara Shikaku's son." The girl said.

Shikamaru nodded.

"Name?"

Shikamaru hesitated. "Shikamaru." He said.

The girl sighed. "I'm Sakura."

"Sakura..." He nodded. "Okay."

The girl slowly dragged herself into a sitting position. "Why don't you sit?" She asked, gesturing towards the chair at the foot of the bed. She reached for the scythe and Shikamaru shuffled back nervously. The girl blinked.

"I'm not going to attack you." She said. "I can't reach the chair with this." She tapped the blade of her weapon. "And even if I did manage to break the chains, there are ANBU on the roof."

Shikamaru didn't ask how she knew and instead, sat down.

"So, why were you sent here?"

Shikamaru blinked. "What?"

"Why are you really here? Who sent you?"

Shikamaru frowned. "I came here to look for my-"

The girl jerked violently, pulling against her restraints. Her scythe fell to the ground with a loud clatter and Shikamaru jumped. The girl leaned forward, her head tilted a little. Her eyes were wide and she snarled at him. Her expression morphed into a terrifying grin, one that was all teeth.

"You're lucky I'm chained up, brat." The girl sneered. "It's been awhile since my last sacrifice and I'm more than willing to let you enjoy the honor of-" The girl's eyes widened and she stiffened. Her shoulders began shaking and she clenched her fists. She began breathing heavily.

Shikamaru felt kind of sorry for her. He got to his feet and slowly walked around her. He saw her eyes following his movement and was careful not to make sudden movements. He picked up her scythe and held it out to her. "I...really was just looking for my father." Shikamaru said quietly.

The girl stared at him before slowly taking the weapon. "I know." She said just as quietly. She sighed.

"Have you eaten yet?" Shikamaru suddenly asked.

The girl shook her head.

* * *

Later that day, while playing their usual game of shogi, Shikaku spoke up. "I heard you came to the hospital to look for me."

Shikamaru's hand froze over the board, before he slowly lowered his piece into place. "Yeah."

"You met Sakura?" Shikaku asked, remembering the report the ANBU had given him regarding their interaction. It seemed like the girl had opened up more to his son to any of the adults.

"Yeah."

"What did you think?"

"She reminded me of a cat." Shikamaru said absentmindedly. "She lashes out when she feels threatened."

Shikaku nodded slowly. "I see."

"But she doesn't understand what a threat is. She just protects herself by killing before she herself is killed." Shikamaru said, more to himself. "I think she simply doesn't understand." He sighed, and Shikaku knew that that was all he was going to get out of his lazy son.

* * *

 **So, here's the next chapter.**

 _ **Darque: Shikamaru and Sakura meet!**_

 **Raven: Yay~**

 _ **Darque: S**_ **o,** _ **the crazy things are starting soon! More blood and gore in the next chapter, though I don't think it's too bad...**_

 **Raven: That's cause you're weird. Your idea of 'bad' is the massacre of an entire nation, where all the victims had their eyes carved out and their tongues cut off to be stuffed into the eye sockets.**

 _ **Darque: Of course that's bad! I mean, well, I guess it depends on the country, but imagine, how long do you think it'll take you to do that to every single person?**_

 **Raven: See what I mean?**

 **Read and Review!**


	5. Life is like a Canvas

_**Chapter FIVE**_

The day after her first meeting with Nara Shikamaru, Sakura was led out of the hospital by Morino Ibiki. Her restraints had been replaced with a single band on her wrist and the head interrogator held onto her scythe. She had been given a simple set of clothes to replace the hospital garb.

The moment she stepped out onto the streets, she could feels the eyes of curious civilians and shinobi on her and she held back the urge to snarl. As if knowing the mental conflict she was going through, Ibiki's grip on her arm tightened. Sakura mentally scoffed. Like she would attempt an escape.

She was greeted by the Hokage, Inoichi and Shikaku in the office Ibiki led her into. Ibiki released her and handed her her scythe. She wasn't given much of an explanation and the four of them made their ways underground.

Sakura could already smell the blood.

"This is the T&I office." Ibiki began. "Under Hokage-sama's orders, you will be allowed to take part in the disposal of a nuke-nin."

Sakura's eyes widened and she glanced over at the blond Hokage, who nodded, though Sakura could see the displeasure in his eyes. She steeled herself. "This isn't some sick joke, is it?"

Ibiki scoffed at her then roughly nudged her towards a door. "We got almost everything we need out of his leader." Ibiki said. "Would be nice if we can get out hideout location." He said suggestively.

Sakura shrugged, then marched into the room. The door closed behind her.

The man chained up sneered at her as she entered. "Now they're sending in brats?" The man asked.

Sakura nodded, feeling lighter each second. She was way too happy to actually comment on the man's rude behavior. She brandished her scythe in front of her.

"We get some quality time together." She sang. "We're lucky, aren't we?" She marched forward and flicked her wrist, giving the man a light cut on the cheek. She drew back her scythe and brought the blade up to her lips.

"Hey!" The man called. "If you think a brat with a scythe twice her size is going to scare me, you need to do-" He cut himself off with a scream of pain. His head whirled to glance at his arm, which now had a jagged, long deep cut running along it. He turned to look at her, his eyes landing on the wound mirroring his, on her arm.

He then gave her an once over. Her skin was no longer pale, but black, and was covered in skeleton like markings.

"Don't talk to someone else when I'm here." Sakura said, wagging a finger in his direction. " _I'm_ your current playmate." She swung her scythe again, this time driving the blade through her leg.

The man screamed again, thrashing in his bindings.

Sakura let out a gasp of pleasure and she visibly shivered. She traced her own body, decorating it with a few more cuts before she became bored. She traced her chest, the area directly above her heart, with the tip of her blade.

"I offer this man to you, Jashin-sama." Sakura lifted her scythe.

"Wait!" The man blurted out, then began to babble. "I'll talk! You want the location of the base, right? It's by the border of the Fire country nearest to the Waterfall Country, around a three hour travel from the border gates-"

Sakura grinned maliciously and swung down her blade, piercing her heart.

The man's scream of pain was cut off abruptly as his life ebbed away, leaving behind only a hysterical cackle.

* * *

Shikamaru stepped into her hospital room, just as hesitantly and as carefully as the previous day. This time, Sakura glanced at him as he entered and gestured towards the chair he had occupied yesterday. It was almost as though she had known he would come.

The Nara eyed her warily as he sat down. "You're in an awfully good a mood." He commented.

Sakura smiled cheerily, her expression so unlike the crazed snarl she had worn yesterday. "I was allowed kill someone today." She said, as though she was commenting on the weather.

Shikamaru paused. "What?"

"It's exactly as I said." Sakura said. "I was allowed to aid in the disposal of a Nuke-nin."

"You sound really different from yesterday." Shikamaru blurted out, trying to change the subject while he wrapped his mind around things.

"This is the usual me." Sakura told him. "Sometimes, I become...thirsty, and then it becomes harder to hold back the me you saw yesterday." A frown marred her face. "Has no one told you anything?"

Shikamaru stayed stubbornly glued to his chair. "What 'anything'?"

Sakura shrugged. "Apparently, I'm a crazy monster who worships a equally crazed, monstrous, bloody god." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I overheard the nurses talking." She said.

At this, Shikamaru's frown deepened. "Monsters are those who aren't aware that what they do are inhumane." He finally said. "You can acknowledge your own actions."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I do things that other people find weird." Sakura said. "People fear what they don't understand."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm your friend, right?" Shikamaru said without really thinking. "Nara's are pretty smart, you know."

Then his mind caught up to what he had said and he clamped down on his tongue.

Sakura eyed him for a few seconds, before a smirk graced her face. "Okay, then." Her expression then melted into a smile. "I shall grace you with the title of being an Immortal's friend."

* * *

For the next few days, Shikamaru kept Sakura company in her hospital room. One day, he brought over his shogi board and after getting over his initial shock upon finding out that Sakura had no idea what 'shogi' was, began to teach her.

Shikamaru was pleased to know that underneath the brash, rude mask, a dictionary of words that would make Ibiki proud and a sharp tongue that could bring nurses to tears lay a cold intelligence and an almost dangerous thirst for knowledge. She had read through the shogi rule book on the first day and had memorized the first half of a shogi strategy book word for word by the next.

Shikamaru couldn't wait for the day she could play against him, and for this reason, he found himself in Sakura's hospital room every day.

He already knew the procedure too.

If Sakura's last ritual was three or more days before, she would be in a bad mode, and he had to bring her something sweet, most of the time dango, to pacify her enough before he attempted any sort of conversation.

If Sakura had done a ritual within the last two days, she would be in a good mood, so he was to bring in his shogi board and continue to teach her how to play.

If Sakura had had her way with some prisoner or another, he had to stuff dango into her mouth, the sit and wait for her to come down from her high.

His parents didn't really seem to mind the sudden change to his schedules. His father seemed impressed that Sakura was able to make his lazy son leave the house every day and his mother was simply happy that he seemed to have made a friend aside from Choji.

Shikamaru didn't know if Sakura could be considered his 'friend', but he did enjoy her company so he stuck around.

* * *

 **So, more Shikamaru.**

 _ **Darque: Sitting in Science (Biology) right now.**_

 **Raven: Not History?**

 _ **Darque: Not today.**_

 **Raven: Oh. You're using your laptop in Science?**

 _ **Darque: I have a test tomorrow, so I have revision session today.**_

 **Raven: A...test...?**

 _ **Darque: Yes- Oh...Dang.**_

 **Raven: I expect at least 50%.**

 _ **Darque: Don't. Being disappointed isn't a nice feeling.**_

 **Raven: I think that was where you were supposed to reassure me that you'll be fine.**

 _ **Darque: Don't worry, I 'll be fine.**_

 **Raven:...**

 **Read and Review!**


	6. Each day is like a new Stroke

**New story thing at the bottom...Also, does anyone remember what day it is today...?**

 _ **Chapter SIX**_

Sakura and Shikamaru continued their ritual in the hospital room, which she remained in only because accommodations had yet to be made.

Once in awhile, either the Hokage, Ibiki, Shikaku or Inoichi would come talk to her for a while, usually after Sakura had be given a prisoner or a criminal to 'take care' of, for she was more polite and reasonable right after.

Choji had seemed very skeptical when he had come over to the Nara compound for their clan dinners. "I was looking for you and I looked for you at that cloud watching hill, but you weren't there."

Shikamaru felt something bubbling within him, something he had never felt before. "I was...busy."

Choji blinked and Shikamaru looked away with a blush on his face. Why he didn't want anyone to know about Sakura, he had no idea.

A month after Sakura had first arrive in Konoha, the applications for the Ninja Academy began and Shikamaru reluctantly accompanied his father to hand in two sets of forms, his and Sakura's. The Hokage had given the Nara head permission to overlook Sakura's progress. Shikamaru had seemed very satisfied by this and his mood didn't seem to worsen even when Shikaku gave him the job of informing Sakura about this arrangement.

Luckily for Shikamaru, Sakura had just returned from the disposal of some missing nin, and was in a very good mood.

"Shikamaru!"

The Nara raised his hand lazily in greeting. "Hey."

Sakura smiled softly. "You're late."

"I was at the Ninja Academy." He said. "Which you will be entering next term."

There was a shocked silence, before Sakura blinked. "Academy?"

Shikamaru nodded.

"What is this...academy?"

"You are going to learn to be a ninja." Shikamaru told her, having already expected this.

"Why would I want to learn to be a ninja?" Sakura asked, skeptical. "I'm plenty good already."

"If you go and you properly graduate, you'll be allowed to go on missions." He said. "No one will say anything if you kill in self defense during a mission, right?" Shikamaru had this planned already. "You can earn money, and they you would be able to tend to you scythe with your own equipment." He continued. "You can also eat all the dango you want." And finally, his trump card. "I'll be going." Shikamaru said. "And if you don't you'll be stuck here because I won't have as much time as before."

At this, Sakura paused. "I don't have any money." She said.

"My father's going to paying." Shikamaru said. "He seems to like you."

Sakura blinked at doubtfully and Shikamaru was once again given a glimpse of the Sakura beneath her 'insane killer' mask.

"You does." He said, a little more firmly.

Sakura hadn't pressed the matter but she had still seemed doubtful when he had left.

* * *

For his Academy entrance gift, his father handed him an envelope. Shikamaru eyed his smirking father warily before he slowly opened it and pulled out it's contents.

"She'll move in tomorrow." Shikaku turned and left, leaving Shikamaru staring at the guardianship acceptance form signed by the Hokage.

* * *

Shikamaru woke up to a heavy weight on his chest. He let out a soft groan and tried to roll over but opened his eyes when he realized that he couldn't.

He was met with a facefull of pink and after a few blinks, he abruptly realized what exactly it was.

Sakura chose that moment to wake up. "Hello, Shikamaru."

"Sa...Sakura." Shikamaru restrained himself from instinctively pushing off the girl, especially after he noticed how thin her arms were. He wondered how she managed to lift her scythe with arms like that. "What...are you doing here?"

"I moved in this morning. It was still pretty early and your parents said I could stay in your room until they could prepare one for me." Sakura said. She yawned. "And I wasn't going to sleep on the floor."

Shikamaru waited for her to clamber off him, before he slowly sat up. "O-oh." Shikamaru shook himself. "I see."

He noted halfheartedly that Sakura slept with her scythe.

"Academy is tomorrow." Sakura said. "Is there anything we need to prepare?"

"We got the books." Shikamaru yawned. "So no."

Sakura hummed, then curled up on the spot he had previously been lying on. "Scream if something happens." She said, then closed her eyes again.

* * *

Shikamaru decided he did not like going to school, especially if it meant waking up early. He leaned on the frame of the bathroom door as he waited for Sakura to finish. She did so a few seconds later and rushed off to change while he took his turn in the bathroom. When he came out, Sakura was waiting for him, already ready.

Shikamaru watched wordlessly as she sealed her weapon into a scroll then strapped it to her waist. "Pretty sure you can't bring that." He said.

"I can." Sura said. "I don't know when I'll be pulled out by Ibiki's messenger for a job." She pulled out a scroll. "Also, permission scroll."

Shikamaru really didn't think it was a good idea and sighed at the thought that he would have to be the one to hold her back. At least she listened to him to some extent and hadn't tried to kill him yet.

And to make things worse, Sakura hadn't had her last 'ritual' in days. She was in a bad mood to begin with.

Just then, Yoshino called them from downstairs. "Choji-kun is here, Shikamaru! You're going to be late."

Shikamaru sighed at Sakura's thoughtful look. "Who's Choji?" She asked.

"My friend." Shikamaru grabbed Sakura by the wrist and dragged her out of the room, then down the stairs. "Come on."

Sakura let out a guttural growl but didn't comment.

Shikaku was waiting for them at the gates of the compound. Sakura eyed the other man and his son standing beside the Nara head.

"Be polite." Shikamaru said. "And I'll get you dango after school."

Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously but when Shikamaru didn't back down, she scoffed and looked away. Shikamaru sighed. Dealing with a Sakura who hadn't killed anyone in days was more scary than the idea of her killing.

"Hello, Shikamaru-kun." Akimichi Choza smiled.

"Hi, Oji-san." Shikamaru waved.

"Hi Shikamaru..." Akimichi Choji trailed off, glancing at Sakura.

"Hey." Shikamaru glanced behind him at Sakura, who didn't say anything. "This is Sakura." He said. "She's rude and grumpy and everything, but she's okay." He yelped when Sakura smoothly removed her hand from his grip and jabbed him.

Choji winced and smiled nervously. "Hi, Sakura-san."

Sakura eyed the boy, eyes narrowed. "Hello, Choji-san." She let out another growl when Shikamaru patter her head.

"Good girl." He drawled. "I knew you could do it."

Shikaku winced as well. "You seem to be in a bad mode." He said.

"No, of course not." Sakura smiled, one full of malice. "I think I'll get a call today." She paused. "I hope."

Shikaku let out another chuckle, then turned to Choza. "Let's get going." Choza shrugged. They began walking towards the academy. Choji glanced worriedly at Shikamaru and Sakura. The Nara once again took Sakura's wrist in his hand and began dragging her after his father.

* * *

 **NEW STORIES:**

 **The Core (Sakura x Akatsuki/Sakura x Multi):**

 **The Akatsuki are an Elite Police Authority group stationed in a city where the lives people are influenced by the predictions of a Supercomputer. The predictions had never been wrong ever since Version Sakura had been released. However, when the computer shuts down one day for no reason, they come across the horrifying truth and the Akatsuki must confront their twisted government.**

 _ **Those who walk the Realms of the dead (Sakura x Multi)**_ :

 **The Haruno clan are known for their unique relationship with the dead. To them, hearing whispers, seeing the ghosts wandering the planes and having their bodies taken over by spirits are common occurrences. However, once in a hundred years, the 'Reaper Child' is born. The chosen of this century, Sakura can walk the land of the dead at will, the limit to her powers unknown.**

* * *

 _ **Darque: I'm having lots of fun planning all sorts of Crazy!Sakura scenes.**_

 **Raven: I feel dread pooling in my stomach.**

 ** _Darque: So, I want a scene where she snaps in front of everyone, and another where she does more killing and something to do with eyeballs..._**

 **Raven: I puked out all the dread and it filled up a swimming poll.**

 _ **Darque: What? That's the kind of story this is.**_

 **Raven: I think I know why you're stupid. Your brain is full of these kinds of things.**

 ** _Darque: Unlike you, I don't have separate section of my brain for different things._**

* * *

 _ **Also, Happy Birthday to us! We're sixteen now!**_

 **Meh, so leave us an extra long review, okay?**

 **Read and Review!**


	7. Life is like a Dream

_**Chapter SEVEN**_

Even before they even got to school, Shikamaru knew that he had found yet another side to Sakura's personality. She glued himself to his arm and showed no signs of moving.

That slowed them down more than it should.

And she kept getting distracted by everything going on around them and Shikamaru noted that while she had been outside, she had been accompanied by Ibiki. Shikamaru had met the man once or twice, and he had been pretty scary.

Chouji kept shooting the two of them uncertain glances and Shikamaru thought that if his life was shortened by a minute every time he sighed, he would be dead by now.

He glanced down at Sakura who was looking wide eyed at a park, he decided that maybe it wasn't that bad.

* * *

Somehow, they were still early in their arrival.

The open ceremony had been held a few days ago and Sakura had been with Ibiki, so it was the first time she had come to school.

Shikaku pulled his son to the side before he could enter. "The Hokage put Sakura in our care." He said seriously. "While she may seem like not too much of a threat at the moment, we can't be too careless yet. There are ANBU tailing her and if she does happen to snap, spike your chakra, okay?"

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome."

His father cuffed him lightly.

"She won't kill me." Shikamaru said, sounding sure. "She's like...a kitten." His brows furrowed at the line. "I'll just keep her entertained and she won't do much." He sighed. "I'm more worried about the others." He said. "Like Ino. Sakura doesn't take very well to being insulted." He paused. "But's she's a good girl." He added quickly. "She listens to me."

Shikaku chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Yes, yes." He smiled. "Get going now." He said. "Sakura's waiting for you."

Shikamaru glanced over to the school gates where Sakura was waiting impatiently beside a nervous Chouji and a smiling Chouza. "Okay."

He quickly walked back to Sakura's side. The pinkette grasped Shikamaru's sleeve and glanced down. "Can we go now?"

Shikamaru waved at his father and watched Chouji say bye to his father as well. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

Shikamaru planted Sakura by the window seat at the very back row. He sat down, then had Chouji sit on the outer side. They were one of the early ones, and there were only a few other students in the room.

Sakura glanced around the room and Shikamaru let her explore as he watched their classmates slowly file into the room.

"Hi Shikamaru, Chouji!"

The Nara looked up and nodded lazily at Yamanaka Ino. "Hey."

"Hi Ino." Chouji waved slowly.

Ino planted herself in front of Shikamaru and eyed Sakura curiously. "Who's she?"

"She's a kitten." Shikamaru said before he could stop himself. "Don't threaten her, and you'll be fine."

Ino giggled. "A kitten?"

Shikamaru blushed and was very grateful that Sakura had been zoning out the whole time. Finally, "All these seats are filled with students?" She asked curiously.

Shikamaru nodded, glad for the distraction.

"That's a lot of students." Sakura murmured. "Yuuto and I were Daigo-sama's only students."

"There were only two of you?"

"What are you-" Ino began, but Sakura cut her off.

"Yes."

Ino waved her hands. "Hang on! Don't interrupt me!" She crossed her arms, a stubborn expression on her face.

Sakura eyed the girl and opened her mouth. Shikamaru whacked her over the head before she could say anything. "Hey!"

"Be polite."

"I have yet to say anything." Sakura scowled and fixed her hair.

"But you were about to say the first thing that came to mind." Shikamaru retorted. "I could see it in your eyes."

"You want to know what first came to mind?" Sakura demanded. "I was thinking how the fu-"

There was a sharp knock at the window and Sakura whipped around. A figure in ANBU gear was hanging upside down from the roof. He nodded, then vanished again.

"Itachi-san is on duty." Sakura murmured. "How did he even hear me? In fact, is it even his job to protect the innocent minds of young students?"

"You have a filthy mouth." Shikamaru said. "How many nurses do you think fainted the moment you sprouted something form your 'creative' dictionary?"

"A countless amount." Sakura sighed. "Jashin-sama demands a sacrifice."

"And I demand you be polite for one day." Shikamaru muttered. "But we can't all get what we want, can we?"

Ino and Chouji were watching to two curiously. "Are they always like this?" Ino asked.

Chouji shrugged nervously. "I don't know. I only met Sakura-san this morning." He paused. "But when they did argue, it was just like that..."

Shikamaru leaned his head on the table and looked at Sakura from the corner of his eye. The pinkette was leaning on one hand, and was looking out the window, eyes blank. He sighed.

"Mother packed dango for lunch." He said slowly. He watched Sakura stiffen. "We can eat it later, okay?" He cracked a smile when Sakura huffed, as though she was doing him a favor.

Just then, Umino Iruka entered the room. Everyone instantly went quiet, probably nervous about their first day. Sakura eyed the man curiously, never having seen a smiling teacher. Daigo had always been frowning, and it kept deepening as the day went on.

"Hello, I'm Umino Iruka, but you can call me Iruka-sensei." The man's smile widened. "We'll start with a short introduction, okay? We'll go in order of seating, and please tell your classmates your name and something you like to do."

Shikamaru let out a soft groan.

* * *

 **Poor Shikamaru.**

 **Raven: That is me when Darque's around.**

 **Anyways, Darque isn't here today, and so, I'll be sharing a few things...(Imagine Evil cackling in the background.)**

 **Did you know (Probably not) that Darque is the one that comes up with most of the story ideas, and that it all starts with a single 'Oh, that seems like an interesting scene!' kind of thing?**

 **For example, Darque wondered what it would be like if two Jashinists fought it out. Hence why this story, 'The Beauty of Life' was born. Darque wants to write _one_ scene (Hidan VS Asuma ((With a few alterations))) and she wrote a whole entire story with a plot and everything to get there. **

**Meh. Weird little thing, that one.**

 **Read and Review!**


	8. No matter what you see, it's not Real

_**Chapter EIGHT**_

Shikamaru had been worried about Sakura's reaction to everything ever since they had left the Nara compound. However, he instantly noticed the lack of fire behind Sakura's comments and insults.

Sure, her sneer was probably enough to convey the message but Shikamaru felt as though her words were lacking the sharpness it usually held.

Iruka began at the front window side seat. The girl stood up, a huge smile on her face, and began introducing herself.

Shikamaru tuned her out and turned back to Sakura, subtly watching her from the corner of his eye so that she didn't see him openly staring at her.

He saw her lip curl in a sneer of contempt when a girl stated that she liked shopping, but the harsh words, even whispered, didn't come.

Finally, unable to hold himself back, he turned to her. "You okay?"

Sakura turned her gaze to him, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Shikamaru repeated. "You seem...I dunno, tired?"

"I..." Sakura clenched her fists. "I'm fine." She said.

"You sure?" He pressed, knowing he was walking on dangerous grounds. One too many pushes and Sakura would snap.

"Yes." Sakura replied, a little forcefully. "Just a little...overwhelmed."

Shikamaru took in what she had said.

As far as he knew, Sakura had been born and raised in a religious temple that worshiped a...strange god. She hadn't grown up in what was considered the norm. She had been surprised that there were more than two students in a class. He realized it must be overwhelming for her and he realized he had no idea to what extent things were new to her.

"You could've just told me, you know?" He said, though he didn't know what he would have done even if she did. "Don't have to get all snappy." He added. "If something's bothering you or something, you can just tell me." He said, lowering his voice even more.

"Jashin-sama requests a sacrifice." Sakura said, though her scowl just barely covered her amusement. After a moment of hesitation, she added. "I'll...keep that in mind."

Shikamaru turned away awkwardly and focused on the introductions as they hit the middle few rows.

Ino stood up. "I'm Yamanaka Ino." She said. "I like shopping and flowers."

At Sakura's disbelieving gaze, Shikamaru leaned towards her. "Her family runs a flower shop." He whispered.

Sakura clicked her tongue then shrugged.

Shikamaru glanced around the room, for the first time noting the surprising amount of clan heirs gathered in the single class. A few students later, a blond with piercing blue eyes stood up, grin on his face.

"I'm Namikaze Naruto." He exclaimed. "I like ramen and I'm gonna be the Hokage one day!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at his name. "Hokage's son?" She asked.

Shikamaru nodded.

Next, a boy with dark hair and onyx eyes stood up. "Uchiha Sasuke." He said curtly. "I admire my brother and will surpass him one day."

"Too prideful to admit he likes his brother?"

Shikamaru hummed in amusement.

He listened to a few more introduction before he realized with a start that they had reached the back row. Iruka started on the corridor side and Shikamaru felt dread pool in his stomach as each student stood, then sat. Soon, it was Choji's turn. The shy boy's introduction was quiet and short, and Shikamaru found himself standing.

"I'm Nara Shikamaru." He said. However, his mind was somewhere else. "I like sleeping and playing shogi." He took his time sitting down.

"Last but not least." Iruka smiled at Sakura. Shikamaru noticed her eyes widen and she tensed for a second, before she stiffly got to her feet.

"My name is...Sakura." She said. The corner of her lip twitched. "I like Jashin-sama." Shikamaru saw the previous hesitation vanish and a shiteating grin slowly took it's place. "I also like my part time job." She sat down.

Shikamaru decided that he would settle with being glad that Sakura hadn't deemed it necessary for the class to know that her hobby was cutting people to death.

* * *

The first half of the day was spent with a tour of the Academy. Shikamaru halfheartedly engraved the facility locations to mind, only so that he would know which areas to avoid should he ever need to skip class.

The grip on his wrist tightened and he risked a glance to the left, where Sakura was clinging onto his sleeve. Sakura was taking everything in as well, though Shikamaru highly doubted it was because she wanted to know the locations of the classrooms. As if sensing his gaze, she turned to look at him. "Yes?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Nothing."

He felt Sakura shrug and turned back to Iruka, who was pointing towards the stairs that would take them to the roof.

The walk back to class was full of the chattering of the students. Once they were all seated, Iruka ran through the list of courses open to first years.

He could feel Sakura's curious gaze boring into the side of his head and she pounced on him the moment Iruka announced lunch.

"What is the 'Will of Fire'?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru blinked at the surprising question. Coming from a Shinobi clan, the Will of Fire had been engraved into him even before his training had begun. However, others, especially someone like Sakura who came from outside the village, probably didn't know about it. "It's a life philosophy that states that the village is like one big family and every Konoha shinobi should cherish and fight for the village, just like the previous generations."

He could feel the confusion of the students around him at the use of big words, but Sakura simply nodded slowly. "I see." She said. "So it is a belief that the village is one."

Shikamaru nodded. "Basically." He pulled out the lunch his mother had packed them. He handed the bigger box to Sakura, who wasted no time in opening it. He watched her expression slowly change as she took a bite then proceeded to open his own lunch.

* * *

Shikamaru found his lunch being dango more often than not, and while Sakura seemed perfectly fine with that, Shikamaru wondered how she lived eating dango for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He could bet that she would drink dango smoothie if she could, though he doubted it even existed.

He also found that despite her multi-personality problems, Sakura was good at being discreet. People barely tried to interact with them, and Shikamaru was fine with that. It was too troublesome, and not even he could foretell when Sakura would take something someone said the wrong way and go all 'FOR JASHIN-SAMA!' and kill a classmate.

So far, Sakura's visits to the T&I building had been placed so that it didn't clash with school times. However, Shikamaru knew that it was only a matter of time before it clashed at some point.

"When's your next calling?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura shrugged, a frown making its way onto her face. "I don't know." She said. "But I hope it's soon." She twirled the dango stick with her fingers and lashed out, the tip stopping barely a centimeter from his eye. "I might snap."

* * *

Shikamaru wondered if foresight was on the list of gifts Sakura claimed her god had bestowed upon her.

Their class was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Iruka trailed off his speech about the First Hokage as the door opened to reveal Kamizuki Izumo.

"Hello, Umino-san." Izumo smiled and gave a small wave. "I was told I can find Sakura-chan here."

Sakura looked up from where she had been drawing something Shikamaru suspected to be a beheaded person. "Kamizuki-san?" Everyone turned to look at Sakura, but the pinkette ignored them. "What are you doing here?"

"Duty calls, Sakura-chan." Izumo wriggled his fingers. "Ibiki-san wants you."

Sakura's expression slowly melted into a grin. "Hear that, Shikamaru?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." Shikamaru replied. He sighed and buried his face into his arms.

"You're so boring, Shikamaru." Sakura swung her arms open. "Live a little." She grabbed the scroll containing her scythe and in a flash, was standing in front of Izumo. "Take care of my stuff!" She called.

"Yes yes." Shikamaru yawned and waved lazily. Sakura beamed at him from across the classroom and cheerily followed Izumo out the door.

* * *

 _ **Darque: Anyone here play Puzzle and Dragon?**_

 **Raven: Not me. I used to, though.**

 _ **Darque: You don't count, cause you sucked anyways,**_

 **Raven: You're just too crazy about it.**

 _ **Darque: I'm not.**_

 **Raven: You've been continuously logging in for like, seventy days, and you've only been playing for seventy days.**

 _ **Darque: You're just sad that you were the one to introduce that game to me, and yet, I'm better at it than you.**_

 **Raven: You keep telling yourself that.**

 **Read and Review~**


	9. Life is like a Book

_**Chapter NINE**_

Shikamaru cursed Sakura repeatedly under his breath as he quickly gathered Sakura's scattered scrolls and books. He could feel the curious looks his classmates sent his way and hear Iruka's failed attempts at calling the class's attention back to the front.

He made a show of yawning and lowered his head onto his crossed arms. Maybe this would end up being some sort of troublesome dream.

The next time Shikamaru woke up was to Choji shaking him. He blinked and sat up, trying to remember what he was doing where. "Wha-?"

"It's lunch, Shikamaru." Choji offered.

Shikamaru blinked again, then yawned. "Already?"

"You slept through everything." Ino marched up to them, arms crossed. "Where did Sakura go?"

"Out." Shikamaru looked at her. "Didn't you see her leave with Izumo-san?"

"I did." Ino said impatiently. "Where did she go?" She scowled at a way that made Shikamaru want to flick her forehead like he did with Sakura.

Shikamaru used to think Ino was scary. He had experiences of his mother snapping at his father, and that was not something he wanted to see often, especially if it rendered a well known genius into a shaking mess. Ino had that aura, like she wouldn't take no for an answer.

However, Shikamaru now knew what 'scary' really was.

Scary was seeing a girl wave a scythe twice her size around like she had been doing it since she was three.

Scary was seeing his Genin and Chunin cousins not being able to fight back against a girl half their age in a spar.

Scary was seeing someone come home from a job she greatly enjoyed, covered in blood and grinning like a psychopath.

Actually, it wasn't _Sakura_ that scared him. It was what she had seen and done and gone through that made her the way she currently was.

He feared the past Sakura seemed not to notice looming over her.

Shikamaru hadn't once asked the girl about where she had been before she had arrived in Konoha, and Sakura hadn't shared. He had heard thing from his father and mother, but they were careful around him and all he knew was that she had been raised in a religious temple that had been unfortunate enough to be attacked, and Sakura had been found as the only survivor by a team sent to investigate.

With Sakura preaching left and right, it hadn't been hard to figure out the god worshiped by her temple.

Shikamaru had done some research, and he had been disappointed by the lack of information.

The scrolls and books explained what Jashinism was like, but it never truly explain what made them so special. It preached of blood and madness and sacrifices and rumors of how some of the most loyal were granted the gift of Immortality from Jashin, but not how it exactly worked.

However, he knew that the greatest of gifts always required a payment, and Shikamaru feared what kind of price Immortality required.

He remembered Sakura once mentioning something about an Immortal. Was she one?

He glanced at Ino, realizing yet again just how different she was compared to Sakura. "Work." Speaking of work, he wondered what Sakura was doing.

Ino gasped. "She works?"

"Izumo-san said work, didn't he." He grabbed his scrolls and and packed them, then shoved in Sakura's as well.

"But why would she work?"

Shikamaru sighed. ' _Because it keeps her from going insane.'_ "She enjoys it?"

Ino let out an exasperated sigh, then turned and left.

"What does she do?" Choji asked quietly. "Izumo-san said 'Ibiki'. He's head interrogator, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, trying to keep his expression blank. "Just some stuff in the T&I office."

He didn't think his friend believed him, but thankfully, Choji did not press any further.

* * *

Sakura did not return to class but when he returned home, Sakura was sitting in the living room, a stick of dango hanging from her mouth. She was polishing her scythe and seemed not to notice him.

He wondered if it would be safe to approach and if he should slip past, when Sakura looked up. Her eyes brightened and she grinned happily. "Shikamaru!"

The Nara waved. "Hey." He moved forward and sat beside her on the couch. "How was it?" He asked.

"Great." Sakura waved her arm. "It was great."

Shikamaru looked at the way her lips twitched and wondered why she couldn't be this enthusiastic for other things.

"We have homework." He said. "An essay on hand signs and why we use them."

Sakura shrugged. "How should I know?"

"Iruka talked about it in the morning. You were there." Shikamaru sighed.

"Yes. You were sleeping and I was finishing off the illustrations for the first chapter of my book."

"You're writing a book?"

Sakura nodded. She took her bag from Shikamaru and pulled out a notebook. "Here." She handed it to him.

Curious, Shikamaru took it from her and opened the first page. He read a few lines, then looked at the picture on the opposite page, which portrayed a hooded figure holding a scythe, standing in front of a mountain of decapitated people.

Truth be told, he was actually impressed. As far as he could see, the words were carefully picked and made sense. The drawings was very realistic and detailed. Shikamaru could see that the rolling heads all had wide eyes, and the blood stains looked really realistic...He frowned.

"It's...good." He said slowly. "If only it wasn't a dude who does around decapitating people in exchange for immortality-" He froze.

Sakura blinked at him. "What?"

"Is there...a model for you main character?"

Sakura shrugged. "Yes?"

"Who is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"He was my senior at the temple." Sakura said. "Ten or so years older than me, I think. I was four when I was allowed to watch him be chosen. He left to journey when I was six. He didn't contact us, so I don't know where he is or what he is doing."

"And he was Immortal."

Sakura blinked at him, surprised, but she didn't deny it or try to hide it. "Yes."

Shikamaru swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling dry. "And you?"

"Me what?" Sakura asked.

"Are you too?" He asked. "Are you Immortal too?"

"I am." Sakura said, a small smile on her face. "And I will continue to be for as long as I sacrifice to Jashin-sama."

And for the first time, Shikamaru thought he understood true fear.

He wondered what had happened to her to make her see the gift of life as something so small.

* * *

 **Darque: I just realized something.**

 **Raven：What?**

 _ **Darque: I HAVE MY ART EXAM THING NEXT WEEK!**_

 **Raven: Is that a happy '!' or a sad '!'**

 _ **Darque: Sad...**_

 **Raven: I thought you liked art?**

 _ **Darque: I like art. Not art exams.**_

 **Raven: I...see...**

 _ **Darque: Now that I think about it, my exams are so close... I am so sad...**_

 **Raven: Good luck, You'll need it.**

 _ **Darque: I don't think-**_

 **Raven: Cause you'll be revising, right? RIGHT?**

 _ **Darque: What?**_

 _ **Raven: You wont be failing any of your exams, right?**_

 **Darque: Uh...I don't know...**

 _ **Raven:...**_

 ** _Darque: ?_**

 **Raven:...Bye...**


	10. It has a Beginning, a Middle and an End

_**Chapter TEN**_

The first year of the Academy was boring and Sakura let Shikamaru know exactly what she thought about it.

However, apart from that, Sakura managed to lay low. Albeit complaining, she went to school every day and completed the homework. She went to the T&I office at least once every four days and though curious, no one questioned it anymore when a Chunin came to pull her out of class.

Then again, that was probably because no one, not even Iruka, knew.

Their teacher knew where Sakura had come from, as well as of her childhood, but nothing more.

Sakura could be tight lipped when she wanted to be and so, the only ones who truly knew what exactly she did at work was Shikamaru, Shikaku, Yukari, Inoichi, Minato, Ibiki, and a handful of his subordinates who had been Shinobi long enough to know protocol and keep quiet about it.

Sakura spent the rest of her time plastered to Shikamaru's side. Sometimes, she engaged in conversation with Choji, but most of the time, she sat and listened to people talk.

Halfway into the year and Sakura learnt that her prohibition, which she hadn't known even existed, were over. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to be out of the house after nine, and she wasn't allowed to wander around by herself if her last session at the T&I office had been two or more days prior.

When questioned, Shikamaru had simply shrugged. "I didn't you'd need to know. You're too lazy to go out after dinner and you don't go anywhere without me."

Sakura grinned and had given him a stick of dango from her snack plate.

Sakura also attended her first ever InoShikaCho family dinners.

Ino had scowled at her when she had stepped through the gates alongside Shikamaru, clearly still remembering her dismissal of her on their first day. However, she didn't attempt a confrontation and Shikamaru was just happy Sakura didn't end up spending the rest of her life in a cell with the blood of his childhood friend on her hands.

Soon, their first year came to an end. Shikamaru decided to catch up on all the cloud watching he had missed and wondered if it was worth going to class next year.

Sakura sat beside him, working with a bundle of hay.

Shikamaru had come to learn that Sakura was the type of person that flew from interest to interest. Currently, she was putting together a hay doll, something she had read about yesterday in some magazine his mother liked to read.

If there was one thing that made her different was that she was actually good at whatever she tried.

He watched Sakura place the finished hay doll in front of herself, then stab right through it with a kunai she had probably stolen from somewhere.

He sighed when Sakura frowned at the sight of the hay doll coming apart and wished she put her genius to the use of other things.

They again, maybe he didn't get to complain about that.

* * *

The start of second year came too soon.

Both Sakura and Shikamaru dragged themselves from their beds when Yukari banged loudly on the wall. When they had finally finished getting ready, Choji was at the door, waiting for them.

Iruka spent the first few lessons going through what they had learned the previous year. Finally, a month into the term, they were moving into practicals.

After break, the students gathered in the gym where Iruka went through a whole list of things on safety. Only taijutsu was permitted and everyone was to stop immediately when he said so.

He heard Sakura sigh.

Then again, Shikamaru doubted anyone actually heard anything. He could practically _see_ Iruka's words going in through one ear and out the other.

They went through katas for warm up, then Iruka began pairing students up.

Naruto immediately claimed Sasuke as his own opponent. Shikamaru recalled how the two had been fighting before class had started and hoped they kept the damage to their surroundings to a minimum.

"Shikamaru,"

The Nara looked up at his name. Iruka smiled at him. "You're with Choji."

Shikamaru blinked then glanced over at Sakura in worry.

"Sakura, you're with Ino."

Shikamaru sighed.

Perhaps the danger of Sakura sitting in prison was yet to be averted.

* * *

The lying low Sakura had been doing for the past year was blown away faster than Shikamaru could say 'troublesome'.

He should have known. He had seen it happen, after all. What had made him think it would be any different if her opponent happened to be a girl the same age as her instead of one of his cousins two times her size?

Sakura was onto Ino the moment Iruka had called for the match to begin. Her movements were erratic and Shikamaru only managed to recognize her moves from having watched her spar with his cousins.

Ino's yelp was cut short when Sakura bowled her over. The blonde landed heavily on the ground and Sakura landed on top of her. The pinkette recovered in a split second and had the Yamanaka pinned to the ground with her knees. Sakura linked her hands and raised it above her head.

Shikamaru had seen how she had knocked out people with her hammer blow. He couldn't stop himself.

"Sakura!"

Sakura froze. She slowly looked up and her green gaze landed on Shikamaru.

Shikamaru saw the look on her face, the one she often had before and after she had gone to T&I.

"This is a spar." Shikamaru said softly. "Stop."

Sakura blinked a few times and slowly opened her mouth.

Ino took the chance to knock Sakura off her. Sakura flipped and landed in a crouch. Ino was breathing heavily. She fixed the pinkette with a glare.

Sakura glanced over at Shikamaru again and she tilted her head.

Ino flew at her.

Sakura sidestepped and twisted around, sending the other girl flying with the combination of her momentum and a fist to the face. Students quickly moved to the side as Ino landed in the crowd of their classmates.

This time, however, Sakura did not give chase. She stood there and watched Ino struggle to her feet.

"You little-" Ino darted forward again, fist raised.

Sakura had a creepy smile on her face. She jumped over the Yamanaka and reached down, smashing the girl into the ground from above.

"Stop! That's enough." Iruka marched over and watched Sakura hop off the blond girl. A few of her friends darted forward to check on her. Ino whimpered in pain and Iruka instructed them to take her to the infirmary.

It seemed as though Sakura hadn't knocked her out.

Sakura did not move from her spot. She was looking at her hands and was clenching and unclenching them.

Shikamaru quickly went up to her and led the girl back to the crowd. Sakura let him lead her without complaint. Students moved away warily but Sakura did not seem to notice.

Iruka randomly gave the class a task to do then led Sakura out of the room. Shikamaru followed.

Iruka stopped right outside and turned to the pinkette. "You can't just hurt your classmates like that." He said.

Sakura blinked at him. "We were sparring." She said.

"You have to stop once it is clear that your opponent cannot fight back."

"But she got back up, didn't she?" Sakura said. "She could fight back."

"Well-" Iruka sighed. "I know you grew up in different conditions, but now that you live in Konoha, you have to follow the rules here."

"Out there, enemies won't stop just because you cannot fight back." Sakura said. "Once you stop, you're dead."

"We are simply training-"

Sakura interrupted him. "To become shinobi." Her eyes flashed. "Nothing good will come out of sugarcoating the truth. People die out there, and it's your job as a teacher to prepare them for it."

* * *

Iruka's eyes saddened and he crouched down in front of her. "You are still young." He said. "You just enjoy the time you have before you have to go out there." He ruffled her hair and stood up.

Shikamaru finally decided to speak up. "You okay?" He asked.

Sakura hummed. "I think I miss it."

"Miss what?" Shikamaru asked. Iruka leaned in, curious.

"I miss the fights." Sakura said. "I miss the killing."

* * *

 **WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.**

 **\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.**

 **\- High school AU**

 **\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.**

 **\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.**

 **PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!**

* * *

 **So, new chapter here...**

 **Raven: Today, I am here to make a complaint.**

 _ **Darque: You're always complaining.**_

 **Raven: Just listen, will you?**

 _ **Darque: Yeah yeah.**_

 **Raven: So, the other day, Darque went to eat sushi with her friends.**

 _ **Darque: Oh...**_

 **Raven: One of her friends had a membership accont that made things cheaper, but she forgot the log in, or something.**

 _ **Darque: You're still mad about that?**_

 **Raven: And so, they made a new account, using _my_ email.**

 _ **Darque: Heh...**_

 **Raven: And now, I keep getting 'update emails' about the best dishes the sushi place serves.**

 ** _Darque...Well, just call it advice for when you visit Hong Kong._**

 **Read and Review~**


	11. Life is like a Door

_**Chapter ELEVEN**_

It was six months into their second year, during a lesson on taking care of their equipment and weapons, when Morino Ibiki himself came knocking on the doors of their classroom.

On that particular day, Sasuke and Naruto hadn't come to class. The two, while claiming otherwise, were pretty good friends. They often skived class together when they thought they could get away with it and Shikamaru hadn't thought much about it.

However, as they sat through one of Iruka's lectures on safety before their Taijutsu lesson, he noticed something.

The two boys _never_ missed out on Taijutsu. Sometimes, they would leave in the middle of the day, but would always be back in time for Taijutsu.

Shikamaru's pooling feeling of dread seemed to deepen and he sunk deeper into his chair with a sigh. He could guess who the head of T&I had come for. Students with Shinobi backgrounds no doubt recognized the scarred man as well.

What he didn't understand, was why he had come himself. Usually, it was one of his subordinates.

Ibiki led Iruka out of the room with a flick of his finger and the two came back a minute later, the latter looking considerably paler than before.

Ibiki fixed the class with a chilling glare before he zoned in on Sakura, who was trying to balance her pencils on top of one another. "You have a job, brat."

Shikamaru turned to watch in surprise as Sakura slowly got to her feet. He had expected her to jump up and start cackling in glee or something. Then he caught the look in her eyes and realized.

She could tell that this was pretty serious.

He reached out and brushed his fingers against her knuckles as she walked past him and gave her the smallest of nods when she looked over. She offered him a small grin, then marched down to the bottom of the stairs. Ibiki grabbed the girl by her arm, something Shikamaru had come to realize was a common occurrence, and the two left the room.

* * *

The first thing Sakura noticed upon entering Ibiki's office was a wide eyed Sasuke and a shaking Naruto sitting in the guest chairs. Both had two people hovering around them and Sakura immediately recognized the Hokage. She deduced that the red haired woman was most likely Naruto's mother. The woman hovering over Sasuke had distinctive Uchiha features and was probably the boy's mother, and the last was Itachi. All six of them looked up when Ibiki roughly shoved open the door and stalked in, dragging Sakura behind him.

Sakura waved at Minato and Itachi. She no longer minded the rough treatment, though she did eye Ibiki's tight grip and grumble complaints under her breath. "If this how you treat all girls?" She asked. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

Ibiki yanked her forward so that she was walking in front of him and pushed her along. He must have heard her.

Ibiki walked around his desk and sat in his chair. He tightened his grip when Sakura tried to slink away. "Sorry to have kept you waiting." Ibiki said, looking at the six people sitting opposite him. "It took me some time to locate this one." He nudged her.

"Locate me?" Sakura asked. "I was at class. You just came to get me and we came straight here."

Ibiki raised his fist and hit her on the head. "Be quiet, brat." He sighed. "I'll start from the beginning and I'll only say it once, so you better listen very carefully." Ibiki did not bother to hide the threat beneath his tone.

Sakura clicked her tongue rudely but she stopped moving around. "Yeah, sure."

"This morning, on the way to school, Naruto and Sasuke-wait, you know them, right?" Ibiki gestured towards the two boys.

Sakura nodded. "They're in my class."

Ibiki nodded. "Anyways, on their way to school, they were attacked." He paused. "Three men were caught and apprehended, but we don't know who exactly they are. They are refusing to speak but I suspect they were moving on the orders of some shady character."

"You don't know who they were after?" Sakura jabbed her thumb in the directed of the two boys.

Ibiki nodded. "Could have been either. I suspect both the Hokage's son and the second son of the Uchiha clan would sell well."

Sasuke's mother gasped and she turned around to see the red haired woman glaring at the head interrogator. "Be careful, old man." Sakura scolded.

Ibiki whacked her again. "Brat." He hissed. "I need them to crack. Be grateful I called you here."

"So this is an actual interrogation?" Sakura asked. "Not a sacrifice being camouflaged as a inquisition?"

"At least I don't have to spell everything out for you." Ibiki said.

"You would have to, one day, if you keep hitting me." Sakura dodged the next blow. "And why am I here?" She asked. "You've never let me take care of someone you need alive."

"We need to find out who they are and what they are after."

Sakura turned to Minato, who had spoken up for the first time. She thought he looked shaken.

Ibiki nodded in agreement to the Hokage's words. "I would call it a promotion." He said. "All three are tight lipped." He said. "I need you to have your way with one of them. Might make the other two open up a little."

"You are in the presence of children." Sakura said. "You shouldn't talk about interrogation and torture in front of a pair of traumatized boys. You might scare them."

"You are in the T&I office." Ibiki said. "Torture and interrogation is what I _do_." Ibiki turned away from her, apparently done with dealing with her for the moment. "It's as I said." He said, turning back to the other people in the room. "You are welcome to stay here until we return. There are ANBU guards stationed around the area and I doubt Hokage-sama or Itachi will miss anyone trying to sneak in."

Minato nodded. "I know you were in class, Sakura-chan." He said. "I'm sorry we had to pull you out."

Sakura shrugged. "Didn't really mind." She said. "I learnt weapon maintenance back at the temple anyways."

Ibiki once again took Sakura's arm and led her out of the office.

* * *

 **WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.**

 **\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.**

 **\- High school AU**

 **\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.**

 **\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.**

 **PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!**

* * *

 **NEW STORY:**

 **Ivy: (Sakura x Sasuke/Sakura x Multi?)**

 **Under orders, Uchiha Sasuke is sent to Orochimaru's side where he meets Sakura, an isolated girl willing to do anything for her father's recognition. Sasuke sees Orochimaru take advantage of his daughter's loyalty to make her do inhumane things and realizes that with her upbringing, she doesn't know any better. Deciding to dig deeper, he finds a lonely girl starved for affection.**

 **And they swore beneath the Fire Lilies (Sakura x Neji sibling relationship / Sakura x Multi):**

 **Hyuuga Neji thinks 'Chance' is a stupid word. Such a simple word shouldn't define the power to change one's life. Hyuuga Sakura's world revolved around one person. She knows that once, they've seen the light they could no longer see and heard the song they could no longer hear. The story of a pair of broken siblings unable to escape the fate that has pitted them against the world.**

* * *

 **So, Naruto and Sasuke will soon get to know Sakura...ye.**

 _ **Darque: I HAVE MY FIRST EXAM THINGY MABOB NEXT WEEK AND IT IS BIOLOGY AND I AM GONNA FAIL! MWAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
**_

 **Raven: I think you've got the whole 'evil character' thing down. Most of it anyways.**

 _ **Darque: Then I have a chem test two days later. So I'm going to try for bio and just flunk chem. Cause I can't focus on more than one.**_

 **Raven: Don't you mean, you're going to worry about one and give up on the other.**

 _ **Darque: That;s what I said, right?**_

 **Raven: You shouldn't use words that might give me false hope. You're the girl here. Shouldn't** **you be the one worrying about grades and studying and stuff?**

 _ **Darque: I believe that is chauvinistic.**_

 **Raven: Ooooo...Darque with the big words.**

 **Read and Review!**


	12. You can hesitate or you can step through

_**Chapter TWELVE**_

Sakura knew how to use her scythe. She knew the way to twirl it in her grip so that an air splitting _swish_ followed. She knew how to bring it down as that a sharp blow of air was sent in the way of her opponent and she knew how to tilt it to catch the light on the blade to make it glint in an eerie way.

While she didn't dwell on it, Sakura knew that this scythe was one of her only physical possessions that linked her back to the temple and who she was. Her pendant was something she kept close, something only for herself, while her scythe was something that represented her, something she could brandish.

She had been training with if for as long as she could remember. While less effective as a weapon, especially compared to blades like swords or knives, the scythe played a huge part in building her character and arousing fear within her victims, which was something she was required to do in an interrogation cell.

While Ibiki went around this with intimidation and fear and a smart method of offering the possibility of release in exchange for information, Sakura found it difficult to keep up with the slur of words that came from a blabbering prisoner scared out of his wits. Ibiki was good at keeping his ears open and picking out specific words to use against the prisoner. Sakura's memory allowed her to remember everything the interrogated said but the smell of blood and the cries of fear often clouded her mind and made it difficult for her to focus on the facts. Until she managed to clear her mind, to her, it was nothing but a string of words.

Ibiki held open the cell door for her. Sakura grinned and slung her weapon over she shoulder. Plastering on a dark smirk, she stepped through. She caught Ibiki walking into the side room just before the cell door closed with a clatter.

It seemed like Ibiki was her chaperone this time. She said chaperone because it was the job of whoever went into the side room to make sure she didn't kill anyone she wasn't supposed to kill.

However, when it actually came to information digging, it was the job of the person present beyond the one way glass to listen to the prisoner's words and claims while she utilized her Killer Intent and her rare abilities to drive the prisoner to the point of delusional fear, enough to make them blab everything they knew.

Who wouldn't break down in front of a girl that cut open her own stomach with a smile on her face?

* * *

"Are you lost, _little girl_?"

It always started with the mockery and the scorning.

Everyone looked down on her because she was a girl, a _child_.

It was always like, until she ripped off their arm, anyways.

She shrugged in a way that she knew annoyed people who were looking for a reaction and instead, tilted her head forward in a mocking fashion.

This time, she was partaking not in a a sacrifice labeled an 'interrogation' for the sake of the general public, but an actual interrogation with information they were after. So Sakura had to be careful with who she killed and who she pressured.

She eyed the three men chained down and quickly analyzed them, trying to decide which one would be the most easiest to break.

All three were lean and the way their expressions were guarded screamed 'shinobi'. There was nothing that might suggest their affiliation but since they had yet to crack, Sakura hoped that they weren't stupid enough to carry around something that pointed out a specific village or something.

If that were the case, Ibiki wouldn't have even bothered calling her. Then again, maybe he was simply not bothered.

He was a lazy old man, that one.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned her gaze back to the men. Appearance didn't matter much when it came to her way of interrogation, but it would be easiest to make the most weak willed ones break if she ripped open a leader figure.

She lifted a finger and pointed it at the person in front of her. "Eenie meenie miney mo." She finished chanting, her finger finishing on the man on the right.

She skipped up to him and leaned in. "Hey~".

The man growled at her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and flicked her wrist, her scythe cutting and leaving a mark on the man's cheek. "We'll be starting with you..." She trialed off and frowned. "Actually, we'll be starting with them." She gestured at the other two. "You're just the scapegoat."

"What can a little brat like you do?" The man sneered. "You're-"

He was cut off by his own scream, just like everyone before him.

Sakura pulled the scythe out of her arm. Start at places less fatal and try to avoid the legs, because she did not want to collapse in front of the prisoners. The blood did not show up against her currently black skin but she brought up her weapon in the dim light and licked it. She shivered.

She tapped the mechanism in the middle and her scythe split into two . She spun one and tapped the man on his bleeding arm with the butt of the handle. The man tried to move away and Sakura took advantage of his lowered guard. She sent chakra through her weapon and pulled out the retractable spear hidden within the handles. She carefully placed her scythes on the ground and attached the two spears together. She spun it like she was spinning a pencil.

"I don't want to cut off my arm, you see?" With that, Sakura stabbed herself in the upper shoulder.

The man let out another scream.

"Oh!" Sakura hummed. "Before I forget." She slammed her spear against the ground. "So, you see, I need to know why you attacked Sasuke and Naruto." She prodded at the man with the sharp end of her current weapon. "Ibiki's expecting me to return with information and he'll stab me if I just kill you." She absentmindedly stabbed him through the ankle. "How about this? You tell me what you know, and _then_ we'll play, cause once I need the information, I can kill you, no?"

In the back of her mind, she thought she heard Shikamaru telling her that That's not how interrogation works' and 'Now they won't speak, cause if they do, they'll kill you, idiot'.

She sighed. "Fine. How about this." She twirled her spear again. "We'll play a game. We'll go around in a circle and you can each tell me something." She smiled. "You have five lives. You can pass, but each pass will cost you a life."

Just as she had expected, the first man passed. She smiled and cut off his arm then she spoke over his scream. "Oh, I forgot to say, you have a time limit. If you can't hurry, you might bleed out." She tapped her chin, looking pleased with herself. "Also, five lives, cause I'll cut off your limbs, and the last one will be your head. Then it's game over. Now, next."

Too bad Ibiki stormed in and dragged her out the moment they began to sing like canaries.

* * *

 **Here's chapter twelve~**

 ** _Darque: So, want me to make a list of subjects I'm sure I failed?_**

 **Raven: Do I get to guess?**

 ** _Darque: Sure, go ahead. It's not that hard anyways._**

 **Raven: Okay, so, Art, Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, English, History, IT, Math, Music, Physics.**

 ** _Darque: Wow. Perfect. And in alphabetical order too._**

 **Raven: And that happens to be 10/10 subjects you are taking.**

 ** _Darque: You're smart. I shouldn't be surprised._**

 **Raven: I hope you do know that I am not praising you.**

 ** _Darque: I kind of suspected._**

 **Raven: At least you aren't completely hopeless.**

 **Read and Review~**

* * *

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.

\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.

\- High school AU

\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.

\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.

PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!


	13. Life is like a Double Edged Sword

_**Chapter THIRTEEN**_

Sakura storms back toward Ibiki's office. Kotetsu and Izumo follow her, chattering about how she was amazing and that she should just drop out of the Academy and become Ibiki's student.

Sakura lets them talk but other that that, ignored them, because she knows that they had been sent by Ibiki to make sure she didn't go destroying his office in anger.

When people were unavailable, she had a tendency of taking out her anger on objects and everyone in the T&I building knew that.

Izumo and Kotetsu ran around beside her, trying to move everything out of her way as she tried to purposely walk into chairs and potted plants.

They were getting better, but so was Sakura.

The moment she caught both men occupied, she quickened her step and before they could react, she kicked open Ibiki's door.

While leaving a dent, Sakura was disappointed that it hadn't flown of the hinges like she had once seen some woman with purple hair do.

"Sakura-chan!" Kotetsu skids to a halt beside her and sighs.

"Ops, I didn't see that." She marches into Ibiki's office like she owns it, because everyone knew she did when Ibiki wasn't present, and she plops herself down on Ibiki's chair. She blinks when she realized that Sasuke, Naruto and their respective visitors are still there.

Kotetsu greets the surprised group while Izumo inspects the damage done to the door with shaking fingers.

"I want dango." Sakura announce.

As if summoned, a brown haired woman appears at the door. "Hey Sakura-chan." She called. "I heard you had another job. How was it?"

"Hello Chinatsu-can." Sakura said. "It was fine, until Ibiki kicked me out."

"Oh, a pity." Chinatsu threw a brown packaging towards her from across the room. Sakura caught it and grinned.

"I have to go now," Chinatsu said. "I have papers."

"Thanks, Chinatsu-san." Sakura stuck her hand into the paper bag and pulled out a stick of dango.

Chinatsu smiled before she turned and rushed off.

Sakura looked up. Izumo was talking to one of the caretakers of the office, probably about the door. Kotetsu was talking to the mothers of the two boys in hushed voices and both Naruto and Sasuke were staring at her.

Finally, "What're you doing here, Sakura-chan."

Sakura frowned at the blond boy for a second. She squinted her eyes. "Naruto-san."

"Huh?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing. Anyways, what am I doing here..." She scowled. "I'm waiting for Ibiki." She said.

"But what are you...oh my god, is that blood!?"

Sakura blinked and looked down at her clothes. Fortunately, she had been wearing short sleeves, so there weren't any questionable holes anywhere. She had cleaned the blood off her arm and her wounds had been healed. Then she remembered that she hadn't been the only one to bleed. She looked down at the front of her shirt and clicked her tongue when she noticed the crimson splatters from the lucky man she had gotten to play with. "I did not notice that..." She scowled over towards the two men that had accompanied her back to Ibiki's office. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. "I look like a serial killer."

Both Izumo and Kotetsu stared at her blankly at that.

"I didn't see that." Izumo said. "It's kinda, you know..."

Kotetsu nodded. "Common...yeah, common." The two of them grinned at her.

Sakura sighed. "It's jam." She told Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto frowned, before his expression slowly turned into a grin. "Er...right, of course, why would it be blood."

Sakura stared blankly at him. Behind the blood, she caught sight of Itachi subtly shaking his head.

"But why were you with Morino-san?" Sasuke asked slowly. "You-"

"Well, you guys don't seem too traumatized, so that's fine and dandy." She scowled. "Ibiki, how dare he interrupt me? That bastard, I'll make him pay-"

"Language, brat." Said Interrogator marched into the office. He stopped beside Sakura and his chair and glared down at her.

"That's nice, coming from you." Sakura met his glare challengingly and refused to move. She pulled out another stick of dango and stuck it into her mouth.

"You're really a brat, aren't you?"

"And you're old."

Ibiki sighed. "Shikamaru's waiting for you in the lobby."

"Really?" Sakura caught herself before she stood and cursed herself. "You aren't lying, right?"

"Why would I?" Ibiki asked.

Sakura eyed him skeptically and Ibiki threw his arms into the air. "No, I am not lying." He said. "I swear upon my honor as a Torturer and Interrogator."

At this Sakura smiled. "Sure, whatever." She stood up and patted the seat. "Sit before your knees decide they're too old to work." She grabbed her scythe scroll then turned and skipped out of the room.

True to his Interrogator words, Shikamaru was sitting in one of the sofas, sounding asleep. Beside him was a wrapped box and a bundled up jacket.

Not minding it even a tiny bit, she trotted over to the Nara and stood over him. She looked at the things in her hands and placed the dango sticks to the side, because she actually did not want to hurt him. She filled the paper bag with air and held it close to Shikamaru's face. With a swing of her arm, she smashed the bag into her hand with enough for to make it burst.

It exploded right beside the sleeping Nara's ear and he jumped into the air with a yelp.

"Hello Shika." She grinned. "It's always nice to know you're alive."

Shikamaru's scowled at her and rubbed his eyes. "My ears are ringing." He stated.

Sakura ruffled his hair. "It's a sign that you're alive." She said.

Shikamaru's sighed and stood up. He look over her and squinted at the blood splatters on her clothes.

"Not mine." Sakura told him. "I forgot to bring a spare."

Shikamaru sighed again and he tossed her the jacket. "I thought so." He said. "So I went home before coming here." He held up the box next. "And tou-san said to give this to you." He paused. "'Good job', or something." He eyed the torn dango bag. "Though someone seems to have gotten to you before me."

Sakura grinned and took the box anyways. "It wasn't enough." She said. She opened the box and stuck the first stick into her mouth.

Shikamaru took the ripped bag from her and gathered her old dango sticks. "Come on." He said. "Kaa-san made dinner."

Sakura grinned. She took the second stick and shoved it into Shikamaru's mouth. "Let's go, then."

She would deal with Naruto and Sasuke at school tomorrow.

* * *

 **So, a little bit of Shikamaru. More of him to come in the next chapter.**

 _ **Darque: So, we've been updating once a day for the past week or so.**_

 **Raven: Yup. Pretty proud of ourselves.**

 _ **Darque: :):):)**_

 **Raven: But you're doing the one doing most of the writing. When do you even find the time?**

 _ **Darque: I'm currently on exam leave so I have the time.**_

 **Raven** **: Exam leave...For studying...**

 _ **Darque: Yeah...**_

 **Raven: What am I going to do with you.**

 _ **Darque: Be the man you're supposed to be and deal with**_ **_it?  
_**

 **Raven: I am worrying about your future, not mine. I'm a genius, after all.**

 _ **Darque: That you are, actually.**_

 **Read and Review~**

* * *

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.

\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.

\- High school AU

\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.

\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.

PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!


	14. It Cuts no matter how you use it

_**Chapter FOURTEEN**_

Shikamaru woke up to a familiar warmth on top of him.

He cracked his eyes open and squinted. He was careful to stay still, though, because Sakura woke at the slightest of shifts and if he wasn't careful, her shinobi instincts would kick in and he could get a kunai to the eye.

He carefully turned towards the window and noted that his mother would be knocking on the stairs any moment now. He sighed at the thought of school.

He looked back down towards Sakura only to find himself looking directly into a pair of bright green eyes.

He stared for a while before it hit him. "You-you're awake?"

"You sigh woke me." Sakura rolled off him and Shikamaru grunted when her elbow bud into his rib.

"Watch it." He sighed again.

"You know, if an hour of your life was shaved off every time you sighed, you'd be dead by the time you hit twenty."

"That's reassuring." Shikamaru sat up slowly. "Before you came here, my lifespan was forty years. You've cut it into half."

"I could cut it even more." Sakura grinned at him and darted off to change.

* * *

Shikamaru hadn't been told the details of what had happened yesterday. He only knew that something big had happened which had led to Sakura being pulled out of class by Ibiki of all people. Sakura had been pretty tight lipped about it as well and he knew that if she wasn't going around blabbing and complaining about the lack of screams of the likes, it had to be pretty serious.

And from what he had managed to gather, it was something that involved Naruto.

The moment Shikamaru and Sakura stepped into the classroom, the Nara felt a pair of very heavy gazes shot their way.

He blinked and looked up, meeting the eyes of Naruto, then a little to his left, Sasuke. He turned to the side and looked at Sakura, who was spinning a dango stick between her fingers. She probably felt it as well, though she seemed to be ignoring it. He nudged her.

Sakura scowled up at him. "What?"

"You have a pair of admirers." He jerked his head towards the two boys.

Sakura turned to them. "Well, admirers are required to offer two boxes of dango a day." She said. "It's protocol and until these requirements are met, the mortals have no right to talk to me."

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a mortal too." Shikamaru pointed out dryly.

"You have paid your requirements in advance." Sakura said. "You've been feeding me dango even before I decided I wanted a cult."

"You want a cult?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded. "I am an immortal after all."

Shikamaru glanced around, wondering if it was okay for Sakura to just blurt out a secret like that. He noted that no one seemed to be paying attention to them, apart from a handful of girls looks at them in anger for stealing the attention of the two class idols, though he doubted they could hear her.

Then again, he doubted anyone would believe her until they actually saw it.

He sighed. "Oh, goddess what have you done to make the Hokage's son and the second son of the most influential clan in Konoha so...mad?"

"Cease your questions, mortal." Sakura grinned. "I didn't do anything." Shikamaru eyed her skeptically. "No, really."

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's not like I care." He said. "It's too troublesome."

Sakura hummed. The two of them sat down in their seats.

* * *

It was during their lunch break when Naruto and Sasuke finally approached them. They had been peacefully eating their lunch in their usual spot on the roof with Choji when a loud voice cut through the usual silence.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Hi Shikamaru, Choji!"

Sakura blinked and looked up. Her sudden move knocked over the dango stick tower she had been building. She hissed in annoyance. "Hello Naruto-san." She turned Sasuke. "You too, Sasuke-san."

"Uh, hi." Naruto planted himself on the floor next to Shikamaru. "Mind if we join you?"

"We do, actually." Sakura said.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked.

Sasuke sat down beside the boy, eyes narrowed. "Well, we don't care what you think."

Sakura's eyes narrowed just a little. "You asked, so I honestly answered. Ibiki always said lying was a bad habit."

"Yes, and you _always_ listen to everything Ibiki says." Shikamaru sighed and winced when she elbowed him. "Just stating the truth."

Sakura humphed and turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "What can I do for you?" She asked.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, you see, we were wondering what you were, uh, I mean, why you were-"

"We wanted to know why Morino-san called _you_ of all people and what he wanted you to do." Sasuke cut in.

"That is classified information." Sakura said. "I can't just tell you that. You should know."

"What happened to us was classified information too." Sasuke pointed out. "How come you know about it?"

"Because Ibiki told me."

"And why would Morino-san tell you something he can tell only a handful of people?"

"Cause I work under him." Sakura sighed. "I was called in by Ibiki right after what happened to you two. What do you think I was called over to do?"

"So your part time job is working in the T&I department?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shrugged like it was nothing. "Why don't' you ask the Hokage?" She asked. "He knows too."

"Tou-chan's busy." Naruto grumbled. "We haven't been able to catch him yet."

Sakura hummed. "How about Itachi-san?" She asked.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my brother?" He asked, almost accusingly.

Sakura did not miss the slight change in his expression. A smirk blossomed on her face. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know." She glanced up and got to her feet. "Sorry, mortals, but your time is up. Why don't you come back tomorrow, once your quota has been reset?"

Shikamaru sighed and stood up too, with Choji on his heels. The Akimichi had gotten used to their dynamics long ago.

Sakura when she was in a very bad mood was a offer-sacrifice-before-attempting-approach Sakura. Sakura when she was in a bad mood was a dangerous Sakura. Sakura in a good mood was an okay Sakura. Sakura when she was in an extremely good mood was an unreadable Sakura.

Who knows when she would decide she was in such a good mood that she would dish out sacrifices for free?

* * *

 **New chapter...Yeah...**

 _ **Darque: So, a filler of sorts.**_

 **Raven: Yeah.**

 _ **Darque: You don't sound too happy.**_

 **Raven: I'm not.**

 _ **Darque: Why not? You're a guy. You don't have the time of the month...**_

 **Raven...**

 _ **Darque: Right?**_

 **Raven: OHGOSHSHUTUPWILLYOU?**

 _ **Darque...Wow...prissy much?**_

 **Raven: You'd be not-so-happy too if you found out your friend was staying up until three in the morning to 'study', only to find out that they were actually gaming.**

 ** _Darque: Hang on. That kinda sounds familiar._**

 **Raven: Duh, that's you.**

 **Read and review~**

* * *

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.

\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.

\- High school AU

\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.

\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.

PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!


	15. Life is like a Fire

_**Chapter FIFTEEN**_

When Sakura was called to the T&I office after school, Ibiki himself was waiting for her.

Usually, it was one of his subordinates that gave her a run through of the person she was to interrogate.

Sakura instantly knew that this had something to do with the incident yesterday involving Sasuke, Naruto and the attempted kidnapping.

"You're late." Ibiki said. "Even if I include all your usual detectors, it should have taken you less than ten minutes to get here."

Sakura's eye twitched. "Are you like, stalking me?" She asked.

Ibiki snorted. "My job is basically information gathering." He said. "Stalking is simply a ruder synonym of that."

"So you are stalking me." Sakura nodded, satisfied.

Ibiki whacked her. "In case you have forgotten, you are part of a cult that follows a very bloody god. Of course you are under watch."

Sakura shrugged. "Well, if you have to know, Shikamaru fell asleep on the walk home and I had to carry him back."

Ibiki narrowed his eyes and sighed. "I can actually believe that."

Sakura grinned. "Anyways, what did you want?" She asked. "I have, uh, homework to do, you know?"

Ibiki stared at her blankly. "You don't think I don't know you use 'part time job' as an excuse to not do the work you don't like, right?"

Sakura blinked. "I didn't know that."

"At least try and deny it." Ibiki reached over to his desk and handed her an envelope.

Sakura curiously tore open the top and peeked in. "Wow, is this..."

"A bonus." Ibiki said. "Good job yesterday."

Sakura did not bother to point out that Ibiki probably could have extracted the information he needed by himself. "Why now?" She asked. She waved the wad of cash in front of him.

"Put it away before you drop it." Ibiki said. "I just said, didn't I? It's a bonus."

"Oh."

Ibiki snorted. "Anyways, you'll start receiving payments from this month."

"I don't ever remember being payed." Sakura said.

"Of course." Ibiki snorted. "Last year was a trial, remember?"

Sakura frowned. "I don't." She held up the money. "How much is this worth anyways."

Ibiki frowned at her. "You..."

"At the temple, everything was shared." Sakura explained. "And here, Shikamaru and Shikaku-san pays for everything, so..."

Ibiki hummed. "That's enough to buy you, uh, more than five boxes of dango for a day, for the next three months."

Sakura gaped at him. "Wait. So you mean I can eat..." She paused. "Approximately nine hundred sticks."

Ibiki stared skeptically at her. "You are to use the money wisely." He said. "Like on things such as your school books and a weapon maintenance kit."

"You are such a bore." Sakura plopped down on Ibiki's desk and ignored the disapproving look sent her way. "Anyways, I-"

"IBIKI!"

Sakura jumped when the door was kicked open. Ibiki didn't even blink when it went flying, smashing into the opposite wall.

"IBIKI, YOU BASTARD!"

"Hello, Anko. How lovely to see you." Ibiki snarled, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "What can I do for you?"

The woman, Anko, blinked, before she smiled. "HA! I knew you'd come around someday." She marched over. "Then again, it's impossible to hate the amazing Anko-sama." She blinked, as though she had just noticed Sakura. "Who're you?"

Sakura scoffed. "I could ask you the same thing."

Anko sneered. "Who do you think you're talking to, brat?" She asked. "I am the amazing Anko-sama and you shall show me respect."

"Cease your idiotic chattering, mortal." Sakura shot back. "You are undeserving of even breathing the same air as me."

Ibiki's hand landed on the back of her head. "And what's gotten you in a bad mood, brat?" He asked.

Sakura scowled. "Lay off, old man."

He whacked her again.

"Child abuse." Sakura jumped off his desk to avoid the third blow.

Anko watched the for a bit, a thoughtful air around her, before she hummed. "I think I've seen you before." She tapped her head a few times, before she gasped. "Wait! You're that immortal cult girl!"

"Cult?" Sakura asked. "Jashin-sama is god! You will show him the respect he deserves."

Anko tapped her chin. "I'm not really into religion and god and stuff, but even I think this Jashin dude has potential." She blinked at the Ibiki sent her. "What? I mean, we shinobi are all for slaughter and massacre and murder, right?"

"You!" Sakura pointed at her almost accusingly.

"Me?" Anko pointed at herself.

Sakura nodded. "I have deemed you worthy." She said. "Should you wish so, I will be willing to-" She was cut off when she ducked to dodge the paper weight Ibiki threw at her. She reached out last minute to catch it, stopping it from hitting the floor and shattering. "Hey, watch it!"

Ibiki scowled at her and fingered his ink stone suggestively. He held it up in his hand. "The Hokage would have kittens if he found out you recruited _Anko_ , of all people, into your religion. You're more than enough for it and he would absolutely flip if Anko picked it up as well." His eyes darkened. "And it would be a disaster if she became immortal. I wouldn't be able to kill her."

"Only those deemed worthy can become immortal." Sakura said.

"And if we base the definition of 'worthy' on you, Anko is crazy enough to meet your standards." Ibiki stood up. "You got your bonus, so get out." He told Sakura. He then turned to Anko. "State your reason for being here, Anko, then get out as well."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully and for once, did not complain when Ibiki tossed her out, literally. As she walked off like a good little girl, she could hear Anko yelling at Ibiki for 'Pulling her off the damn roster' and to 'Fucking put her back there immediately or else the Hokage and his kittens would be the last thing on his mind'.

Yes. That crazy woman would be her apprentice.

Sakura hummed.

She had always wanted an apprentice.

* * *

 **So, Sakura want's an apprentice...We have no idea where that came from...Ye**

 _ **Darque: I don't want to study any more.**_

 **Raven: Have you even studied in the first place?**

 _ **Darque: I haven't.**_

 **Raven: Then why are you giving up already?**

 _ **Darque: Because even the idea of studying sickens me.**_

 **Raven: Well, the idea of you wasting your life away in front of a pc sickens me, but I haven't been complaining, have I?**

 _ **Darque:...**_

 **Raven: Have I?**

 _ **Darque: I'll go read a text book.**_

 **Raven: Good girl.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STORY...PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW IT.

\- Sasori x Sakura, we think.

\- High school AU

\- They prank someone (Ino?). They knocked her unconscious and dump her in a bathtub full of dye, or something.

\- Sakura says something about not really being friends with Ino and the others, and that they only want to be picked to go on an 'adventure', or something.

PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW/FIND IT!


	16. You need to Consume to Spread

_**Maybe not-so important but still pretty important poll/question at bottom~**_

 _ **Chapter SIXTEEN**_

Time went by.

Sakura was still called out of class, once in awhile, for a sacrifice. Her classmates no longer questioned it.

Ibiki banned Anko from the T&I office with the threat to permanently remove the woman from the roster should she attempt to enter. Unfortunately, Sakura hadn't been able to catch her since.

Though Ibiki could not tell her exactly what they had found out from the three men she had been stopped from sacrificing, he told her that they had managed to get out enough from them and Sakura had been allowed to finish her ritual.

Naruto and Sasuke often shot her looks from the other side of the room but they didn't attempt another approach.

"They were probably warned off by your personality during our initial interaction." Shikamaru had said. He had earned a whack over the head.

Roughly two years after her first act as a real interrogator, Sakura was called to Ibiki's office. The summon had come in the form of an official scroll brought by a proper messenger and Shikaku had an unreadable look on his face when he sent her off. Sakura and Shikamaru, who had been working on an essay they were to finish my the next day, shared a look before Sakura waved and darted out the door.

Kotetsu was sitting at the reception and he waved her towards Ibiki's office with a weird smile on his face.

Sakura knocked on the door, rarely shown manner that she did, in fact, have, coming to play, driven by the weird reactions of those around her.

"Come in."

Sakura opened the door and carefully stepped in. Ibiki was sitting at his table, working on papers, but he looked up when she stepped up. He gestured towards the seat in front of his chair. "Sit, Sakura."

Ibiki rarely called her Sakura. The girl plastered a frown on her face and did as asked. After all, if he didn't call her brat, she had no reason to retaliate.

"I was doing homework." She said.

"Oh, I didn't know you did them." Ibiki shuffled through a few of his papers.

"I do them." Sakura said and paused. "What is it? Everyone's been acting funny."

"You noticed?" Ibiki looked like he had found what he had been looking for, because he yanked out a file from the mountain on his desk and dropped it in front of himself.

"Course."

Ibiki sighed and waved at the file. "Your file." He said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Not as thick as others, because you came here after you were born and a lot of things are missing from it." Ibiki flipped it open. "You're eleven this year, right?"

Sakura nodded. "But I'm still ten, because I'm March born."

Ibiki hummed. "That makes you a fourth year."

"Yeah." Sakura crossed her arms. "What do you want to say, Old man?"

Ibiki chucked a random file at her and growled threateningly when she dodged, causing it to fall onto the ground and the pages to go flying. "Be patient, brat."

"You're just pulling this out longer than you have to."

Ibiki sighed. "Fine. You want blunt? I'll give you blunt." He tossed her a piece of paper, which turned out to be a form.

Sakura stared blankly at it. "Uh...what?"

"You'll be graduating next year." Ibiki fixed her with an unreadable look. "Instead of joining a Genin team, why don't you officially become a member of the T&I?"

Sakura blinked.

* * *

Sakura returned to the Nara compound in a daze. Ibiki had dismissed her like he hadn't suddenly dropped a bomb on her and Sakura wasn't sure if the head Interrogator knew what he was saying.

Child or not, she was an outsider. Was it really possible that Konoha would trust her with such an important role in their security like an Interrogator?

She kicked off her shoes and after a second thought, straightened them. She announced her return to Shikaku and Yoshino, who welcomed her back and told her that Shikamaru was back in his room. Grateful for the lack of questions, Sakura slipped up the stairs and threw open the first door that came along.

Shikamaru, who had been lying down on the bed, jumped up and turned towards her, eyes wide. He placed a hand on his chest and took a deep breath. "Wha-Sakura?"

"Hi Shika." Sakura stormed in and slammed the door shut.

The Nara caught the way Sakura's face glowed with satisfaction when the whole house shook from the force and he decided that something big had happened. He shuffled a little to the side and Sakura sat down with a loud sigh. "Do you think I should kill people outside or inside the walls?" She asked.

Shikamaru blinked. "What?"

"It's exactly as I said." She tossed him a piece of paper and Shikamaru slowly crumbled it. "Kotetsu said he'll give me another one if I want to sign it."

Shikamaru straightened the paper on his lap and squinted at it. "He wants you to join T&I?" He asked, eyes wide.

Sakura nodded, for once not throwing back a sarcastic comment.

"Wow." He bit his lip thoughtfully. "And what do you think?"

"I really don't know." Sakura sighed. She pulled out the scroll containing her scythe and ran a hand over it lovingly. "I want to wave this beauty around on field."

"Er, right." Shikamaru leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling. "We probably won't be on the same team." He said slowly. "I'll probably be put on a team with Ino and Choji."

Sakura had nodded. She had been living with the Naras long enough to know that. "Who do you think I'll be put with?"

Shikamaru turned to her. "You aren't going to take Morino-san's offer?" He asked. "To take you in as an apprentice?"

Sakura shrugged. "Tell me what you think first."

"To be honest, I have no idea." Shikamaru said. "This year, the most remarkable people in our class are clan heirs with a fixed specialty. Ibiki and my father probably won't allow you to be placed on a team with random civilians and I doubt Hokage-sama would allow that either. Then again, 'Interrogator' isn't really a field job."

Sakura rolled her neck and there was a _crack_ that made Shikamaru want to check to see if her head was still properly attached. "I want to go out of the village." She said. "And sacrifice more people out there."  
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Chained down people not enough?"

"No, not enough." Sakura stretched. "You know, I really want to do both."

Shikamaru paused at this. "Can't you? Do both, I mean."

Sakura turned to him. "I don't know?" She said, frowning. "It'll be cool if I could." She hummed. "I'll ask Ibiki."

"And what if he says no?" Shikamaru asked, more for the sake of the conversation than actual interest.

"I'll become a Genin and then Ibiki will realize just how much he cares for me and how much he needs me and how much of a good Interrogator he's going to be missing out on."

"Okay." Shikamaru snorted and ducked when the pinkette chucked a book at him. "Good luck with that."

* * *

 **So, a little time skip and stuff.**

 _ **Darque; Hello, dear readers.**_

 **Raven: I wonder what Sakura is going to do.**

 _ **Darque: And now, t**_ _ **his is where you come in.**_

 **Raven: Do you think Sakura should,**

 **A) Become a full time Genin.**

 **B) Become a full time** **Interrogator**

 **C) Convince Ibiki that he truly does love her and and that he'll really miss her if she leaves and he decides to allow her to do both.**

 _ **Darque: Leave a review or PM and we'll write the next chapter according to the results.**_

 **Raven: We await your opinion.**

 **Read and Review~**


	17. Life is like a Map

_**Chapter SEVENTEEN**_

Ibiki tried to bribe her into becoming an Interrogator.

Sakura would never admit he was almost successful. In the end, Shikamaru managed to out-buy the amount of dango Ibiki offered her, so that was that. Shikamaru had been grumpy for a while but Shikaku, who had been very pleased with his son's work, had given his the money to cover the huge order for the dango shop. Shikamaru was sure the Nara clan were single handedly supporting their business but he was sure Sakura wouldn't care either way so that was that too.

Soon, the Genin graduation exams were right around the corner. Sakura and Shikamaru were forced by Yoshino to study everyday for the final week leading up to it.

"Both of you are so unenthusiastic about this, you're worrying me." Yoshino had told them. "If either one of you fail, you _both_ will have to shoulder the consequences."

"What consequences?" Sakura asked, because she actually liked this woman who got straight to the point and was not afraid to resort to violence to reinforce her words.

"No dango for you, Sakura-chan, until you pass." Yoshino said. She ignored Sakura's frozen state and turned to her son, who was trying not to snicker. "And you'll have to go to that training course Choza-san recommended me the other day."

That shut him up as well.

Yoshino smiled and slammed practice papers and theory scrolls onto the dining table they were sitting at. "So get working, children." She smiled sweetly. "And just so you know, you're taking up eating space, so no dinner for anyone until you clear the stack today."

Sakura and Shikamaru shot each other horrified looks and Yoshino skipped out merrily.

She had a meeting with the other matriarchs of the Akimichi and the Yamanaka clan's. Sakura and Shikamaru were adorable. She had so much to say!

* * *

On the day of the exams, Sakura and Shikamaru were, literally, kicked out of the house. Yoshino sent them off with a bright smile and a threat that probably did not sound threatening at all to everyone else that turned at the commotion.

"I will kill that lady one day." Sakura groaned. She had her arms wrapped around Shikamaru's neck, making his drag her along. "I will, really."

Shikamaru wedged his hands between his neck and her arms, so that he did not suffocate. "You do know that she's my mom, right?"

Sakura hummed. "Of course. I also acknowledge that she is an interesting woman. That's why she deserves a proper ritual."

Shikamaru huffed. He had gotten use to Sakura's logic a long time ago; he had no idea why he even bothered to question her.

Sakura nudged him. "Actually, I think it was a good thing Yoshino-san sent us out early."

Shikamaru let out a wheezing breath was Sakura lifted her feet off the ground. His hands flew from his neck to under her knees. "Who's fault do you think that is?"

"Yours." Sakura hummed and lowered her head to the crook of his neck. Shikamaru felt his hair stand when she let out a sigh, her breath tickling his neck.

"Well, giddyup, Shika-kun." She murmured. "I'm gonna catch up on beauty sleep."

Needless to say, Shikamaru was too tired to even worry about the exams when he finally managed to stumble through the Academy gates, just on time.

* * *

The first of the exams they were to take was an exam test. Shikamaru and Sakura were less than enthusiastic about it and they showed it in the most unorthodox of ways

Shikamaru calculated the number of points he would need to pass and got exactly that, nothing more, nothing less. Sakura added little illustrations to all the answers that required description and explanation, which took up most of her time and she just barely finished half of it, though the full marks in all the question she _had_ answered allowed her to pass.

Iruke pulled the two to the side when they were leaving for break and gave them a short lecture about how 'they could do it if they tried, so they should'. Sakura and Shikamaru pretended to consider it for the sake of avoiding an even more troublesome situation.

The practical part was something Shikamaru did not look forward to. Sakura did not look any more impressed. Soon, Iruka began calling the students into a separate classroom one by one.

Sakura, who had no known surname, was called in before Shikamaru. The girl yawned and stretched before she lazily padded out of the room after Iruka.

Shikamaru knew that he did not have to be worried. Sakura was more of an act first, think later type of person and while this kind of idea was generally discouraged, the girl had an advantage others did not have when it came to it

A fatal mistake that might kill someone could not kill Sakura.

She was immortal, after all.

Shikamaru himself had never seen this 'immortality' in action. All he had heard were rumors and stories from Sakura herself, and he did not know if this immortality kept you safe from death no matter what, and this was not a risk he did not want Sakura to take.

Still, he knew that if Sakura had been able to pass the written exams, there was no way she would fail the practical one, and he was right.

A little later, the door was thrown open by said pinkette, who had a sickly grin on her face and a red hitai ate in her hand. "Look, Shika!"

Everyone jumped at her voice but Sakura paid them no mind, instead marching right into wave her headband in the Nara's face. "I passed."

"I see." Shikamaru muttered. "Congrats."

Sakura grinned. "Dango, here I come!"

"I need to pass too, you know? Just saying." Shikamaru winced when Sakura glared at him. "But I'll try, really." He added.

Sakura nodded in satisfaction. "Good boy."

Just then, Iruka ran over into the room, panting. "Sakura, you have to wait in the other room." He called.

Sakura blinked and thoughtfully tapped her chin. "Right, something like that." She waved at Shikamaru as she was led out, once again, by Iruka. "Good luck."

Once the door had shut behind the young Jashinist, Iruka turned to Shikamaru. "You're up next."

Shikamaru sighed but slowly got to his feet.

This was it, maybe.

* * *

 **Sorry about the late update...yeah...**

 _ **Darque: I am currently typing this up during english, where I am supposed to be wrinting some reflectiove thing.**_

 **Raven: Oh...not nice.**

 _ **Darque: Well, I'm kinda done, so I think it's fine.**_

 **Raven: Oh...I see, I guess.**

 _ **Darque: You sound dead.**_

 **Raven: I pulled an allnighter doing a report on some scientific method and stuff.**

 _ **Darque: Well, you smart, so yeah.**_

 **Raven: I wish I was smart enough to get this stupid thing done in a snap of my fingers.**

 _ **Darque: I wish too, but we can't always get what we want.**_

 **Raven: Stop, you sound smart and it's messing up my brain.**

 _ **Darque: That was smart?**_

 **Raven: In your standards, yes.**

 _ **Darque: I feel offended.**_

 **Raven: Well, it wasn't a compliment.**

 ** _Darque: You're prissy._**

 **Raven: Science does that to you.**

 **Read and Review~**


	18. It guides but you Choose your own Path

_**Chapter EIGHTEEN**_

Judging from Iruka's relieved smile, Shikamaru could easily tell that he had done what he needed to, and he had passed. He was pointed in the direction of the room set up for those who had passed and the moment he stepped through the doors, he was attacked by a blur of pink.

"You passed! I'm so proud of you."

Shikamaru sighed and let Sakura clamber over him. From the corner of his eye he saw Choji, who had been before them, hovering uncomfortably, looking like he wanted to approach but unsure if he should. Shikamaru made a gesture with his hand, because his face was buried in Sakura's hair, which smelled like blood, something that no longer bothered him, and his arms were pinned to his sides by the pinkette, making it impossible for him to do any more.

Choji shuffled over and Sakura showered the boy with compliments too, even though he had passed long before either of them.

Shikamaru nudged Sakura in the direction of open seats when the person after him walked in to find the doorway blocked and cleared his throat. Once he had successfully gotten the girl to sit, he risked a glance around the classroom.

Naruto, who had been just before him and Sasuke, who had been higher up in the register, were both sitting at the back, bickering. Aburame Shino was sitting by himself in a corner and Inuzuka Kiba was messing around with his dog.

Both Ino and Hyuuga Hinata were behind him and were not yet here, but he had no doubt they would pass.

Apart from clan heirs, there were a few civilians banded together in groups.

Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms behind his head. He would have to nap, to make up for all the sleep he had missed leading up to this stupid day.

* * *

Sakura and Shikamaru were greeted by awkward looking Shikaku and a smirking Ibiki.

Sakura did not blame the Nara clan head; anyone would be weirded out if Ibiki was looming over their shoulder.

"Well, looks like you both passed." Shikaku said. He yawned. "I was almost worried."

Ibiki harshly nudged past the clan head and towered over Sakura. "You did pass, right?"

Sakura bared her teeth. "Of course."  
Ibiki snorted. "I'd never know with you." He rolled his shoulders, the crack that echoed sending people jumping in surprise. "How about your team?" He asked, sounding just a little bitter.

The old man had wanted to stuff her into his ranks no matter what, and was still sulking over the fact that Sakura chosen to part time.

"We're going to get them tomorrow. " She told him. "Iruka said."

"Figures you call him 'Iruka'." Ibiki snorted. "Well, you're open today and we don't have any new toy- I mean, prisoners." Ibiki smirked at his own slip up. "Though make sure you come in tomorrow noon; you should be done by then."

Sakura shrugged. "Sure, whatever. You know, you should just say you miss me and can't do anything without me." She ducked the punch.

"Ibiki, I do hope it's not a bad habit of yours to go punching your students in public." Shikaku said.

Ibiki snorted. "She's not my student." He said.  
Sakura huffed. "I'm not his student." She said at the same time.

Shikamaru glanced at his father, then eyed the scowling pair. "Er...right."

* * *

Upon returning to the Nara compound, they were greeted by the first genuine smile they had seen on Yoshino's face in weeks. She ushered the surprised children into the kitchen and planted them at the table and a plate of snacks appeared in front of them.

"You should be so glad you passed." She chirped. Still smiling, she flaunted away, leaving behind a bewildered Sakura and Shikamaru.

* * *

The next day, Shikamaru and Sakura entered their classroom to a rush of excitement. Their numbers had been cut down after the removal of those who had failed the exam yesterday, but the bright atmosphere of those left made it difficult to notice.

"How troublesome." The Nara led the way up to their seats where Choji was already there.

"Hi Shikamaru, Sakura." The Akimichi greeted.

"Hi." Shikamaru slowly began to sit down.

"Ello~" Sakura grinned and hip checked Shikamaru aside so that she too could sit.

Shikamaru landed with a grunt and he let out a soft whimper. "Abuse."

Sakura nudged him and a second later, Iruka walked in carrying a set of files. Everyone instantly went quiet.

Iruka greeted them, then gave them a brief congratulation on passing the exam. He then gave them a speech Sakura had no doubt he had repeated word for word every year about how they were still low of the low and what not.

Soon, he moved onto reading out the teams and Sakura felt as though she would choke on the happy atmosphere.

"-and Sakura."

The pinkette blinked and looked up. She suddenly felt the weight of an entire class worth of glares boring into her and scowled. "What's their problem?" She asked. SHe glanced around and instantly met the gaze of the two people. She scowled.

"You weren't listening?" Shikamaru asked, exasperated.

"Nope." She sighed. "Come on, tell me."

"You were put on a team with Uzumaki and Uchiha."

Sakura blinked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Nice try." She said.

"No, really."

"I _know_." Sakura snapped, jumping to her feet. "Why them?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and tugged her down before she could cause more of a scene. "Because the higher ups decided to match the psycho with the ass and the idiot." He neatly ducked the book that came to take his head off. "Watch it."

Sakura glared at him and huffed. "I _really_ hope the Old man has someone interesting to chop up." She said. "I might just end up killing them."

* * *

One by one, the Jounin teachers arrived to pick up their students. Shikamaru, who had been placed on a team with Ino and Choji, just like he had said, was picked up by Sarutobi Asuma.

The Nara pulled Sakura to the side, a hand around his arm. "No killing, no maiming, no decapitating." He said.

Sakura frowned at him, no doubt about to say something, but Shikamaru beat her to it. "If it's a part of your job, that's fine, but no killing or permanently disabling your teammates."

"How about temporarily?" Sakura asked. "Like stabbing them through-"

"Now all of us are immortal, your god-ness." Shikamaru said with a roll of his eyes. "If you stabbed someone through the chest, they'll die." He paused. "Say I cut off your arm." He nudged her when Sakura leaned in eagerly. "Say I do."

"Yeah?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Would it grow back?"

Sakura paused. "Well, Hidan said you could stitch it back on and it'll work fine."

"Hidan?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

Sakura blinked. "I've never mentioned him?" She asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't think so."

Sakura frowned and tapped her chin, before suddenly brightening. "Oh!" She reached into her pouch and pulled out a small book. "Here."

Shikamaru took it, instantly recognizing it. "It's your book."

Sakura ndoded. "Remember I said it had a model?" She asked. "That's Hidan."

Shikamaru flipped open to a random page, noting that it was almost complete. "Oh." He flipped through the pages. "He is just like you, just several times worse."

Sakura scowled. "Was that an insult?"

Shikamaru whacked her with the book. "It was a compliment."

Sakura opened her mouth, a frown marring her face, but Ino beat her to it. " _Come on Shikamaru_." She whined. "How long are you going to make us wait?"

Sakura scowled but she didn't snap in annoyance. Instead, she huffed and after sending Shikamaru a glare that promised bodily harm on a later date, she let him go.

"Uh, right." The Nara handed over the book, which Sakura tucked away. She would have to finish it later. "See you afterwards, I guess."

"I'm going T&I." Sakura said. "Come pick me up, and make sure your wallet is full."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and ran a gentle hand through her hair. "I'll see you later. Don't hurt anyone too badly."

Sakura snorted but waited for him to withdraw his hand by himself. "Have fun." She says.

Shikamaru grins faintly. "You too."

* * *

 **Poll is still up. If you haven't done so yet, please vote~**

* * *

 ** _Darque: So, they passed, yay~_**

 **Raven: Yay~**

 _ **Darque: I am so tired, yay~**_

 **Raven: Yay~**

 _ **Darque: DUDE WHAT THE HELL MAN I AM TIRED AND WHY YOU CHEER?**_

 **Raven: !...Uh...sorry?**

 _ **Darque: You better be.**_

 **Raven: I am.**

 _ **Darque: Mkay.**_

 **Raven: You okay?**

 _ **Darque: No, I'm tired.**_

 **Raven: Ah...okay.**

 **Read and Review~**


	19. Life is like a Staircase

_**Chapter NINETEEN**_

Once Shikamaru had left, Sakura sat down in her seat and leaned her head on her arms.

She really was not looking forward to this.

Sasuke and Naruto wandered over to their own seats, shooting her glances and glares every once in awhile. Sakura decided to ignore them for the time being because she had more important things to worry about.

Their teacher was late and Sakura had a very important meeting in the T&I office at noon! She sighed.

The minutes ticked away and Sakura could feel herself getting more and more annoyed. She could hear Sasuke and Naruto bickering in the background and half wished they would include her so that she would have the chance to berate their idiocy. It did not matter that Sasuke was top of the class in both written and physical aspects and Naruto was just as strong. Sakura was always right and therefore, everyone else was wrong by default.

"Hey."

Sakura blinked but did not move. What Naruto talking to her?

"Sakura-chan? You sleeping?" Naruto was approaching her.

"I doubt anyone can sleep with you in a hundred meter radius." Sasuke scoffed. "Idiot."

"Shut up Teme!"

Sakura waited until Naruto was hovering right over her before she sat up, knocking the back of her head into Naruto's forehead.

The blond reared back with a yelp of pain and stumbled. "Ow!"

Sakura blinked as the slight ringing faded away, sending nice jolts through her head. Naruto had a really hard head.

"Oh, sorry, Sakura-chan, are you hurt?" Naruto asked. The blond was rubbing at his own forehead, which was turning read and beginning to swell a little.

"Of course." Sakura spun so her legs were hanging over the side of the seat. "What'd you want?"

Naruto blinked, then seemed to remember he had approached her to ask her something. "Oh right!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura kind of understood.

Naruto did not seem to notice. "Where do you think our teacher is?"

Sakura shrugged. "I dunno." She glanced over at the clock. She had half an hour until she had to meet Ibiki and since she wanted to make a small detour, she would have to leave at a quarter to noon.

Naruto clicked his tongue and glared at the door. "Who is he anyways?"

"If he can't stick to schedules, he must be someone not that impressive." Sasuke agreed.

"I doubt that." Sakura yawned.

"Huh? Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Because you are the son of the Hokage and Sasuke-san here is the second heir to the Uchiha clan. There would be a lot of complaints if either of you were put under an incompetent teacher." She smirked. "Not to mention, I bet I'm still under watch. If I suddenly decide this village is too green, you'd need more than a shinobi that's Jounin by nothing but name to stop me."

Sasuke leaned in, clearing hearing something interesting, but Sakura decided that she was done. "Oh, look at the time." She stood up and patted down her clothes. "I have to be on my way."

"Wh-where're you going?" Naruto asked.

"I have an appointment at Nana-san's tea shop." Sakura said. "And I have an engagement after that. Tell whoever comes that I had better things to do than waste my seconds waiting for a person who can't even read the clock."

She marched up to the door and ignoring Naruto and Sasuke's calls, slammed it open before closing behind her with just as much ferocity. On her way out, she walked past a man she instantly recognized at the leader of the team that had dragged her to Konoha and for a brief second, wondered if she should chop him up for that before she decided that she would be late if she did and shoved rudely past him.

She had fifteen minutes to buy dango then head over to Ibiki. He had promised her a toy and she would make the most of it.

* * *

Kakashi had a feeling something was wrong when he saw Sakura, the pink haired Jashinist girl, storm past him on his way to meeting his maybe team. He had a feeling her pink hair had been on one of the files about said team.

He knew there was something wrong the moment he stepped through the door and saw only two of his supposed three man team.

His teacher's son jumped to his feet at the sound and turned around, ready to yell, only to stop when he saw who it was.

"Kakashi! I knew it! You're late!"

Kakashi waved. "Ah, you see, there was this-"

"Liar!"

Beside him, Sasuke crossed his arms and Kakashi saw the faint shadows of Itachi, his former ANBU teammate, in him. "At least think of a better excuse."

Kakashi simply smiled. "And what excuse are you going to give me for having lost a teammate?"

Both of them jumped a little at this. "Uh, well, Sakura-chan left cause you were late." Naruto said.

"Just now." Sasuke added.

Kakashi thoughtfully tapped his chin. "I think I passed her in the corridor."

"Wha-" Naruto paused. "She said she has an engagement or something."

"Did she?" Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.

"Are we going to go get her?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course." Naruto exclaimed. "We're going to be a team!"

Kakashi watched the two bicker thoughtfully. "Any ideas where she went?"

"Nana-san's tea shop." Sasuke supplied. "But she said she has something after that."

Kakashi had a faint idea where the girl was going and he wondered how he should deal with this. "I was originally planning to do introductions here but...Okay, kiddies, we're heading out."

"Where to?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shrugged and walked towards the window. "I'll be waiting at the school gates. You have ten seconds to get there before I leave you." And he jumped out the window.

He could hear Naruto and Sasuke's alarmed voices getting quieter as he neared the ground and smiled behind his mask.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **So, here's chapter nineteen~**

 _ **Darque: Interesting...yes...**_ **very _interesting..._**

 **Raven: What role you playing now?**

 _ **Darque: I AM THE EVIL ENCHANTRESS OF DOOM HERE TO CURSE YOUR MISERABLE SOUL! SACRIFICE YOUR BLOOD!**_

 **Raven...I bet you auto corrected 'sacrifice'.**

 _ **Darque:...OH, I HAVE FOUND MY MIND READING COMPANION. YOU SHALL JOIN ME IN THE JOURNEY ALONG THE CRIMSON PATH!**_

 **Raven:...I bet you auto corrected 'companion' too.**

 _ **Darque: Even I can spell 'companion'.**_

 **Raven: But you can't spell 'elephant' or 'dolphin'. What kind of Enchantress of Doom can't spell that?**

 _ **Darque: The amazing kind.**_

 **Raven: Well, I believe it is the role of your faithful companion to support you at times of need.**

 _ **Darque:...You're surprisingly into this.**_

 **Read and Review~**


	20. Everything you Do is a Step

_**Chapter TWENTY**_

Naruto and Sasuke both recognized the building Kakashi led them into.

It was one of the darker buildings of Konoha and both their parents had given them the impression that it was not the best place to linger. Not to mention they both had experience being here.

It was not pleasant.

"Kakashi?" Naruto asked. "Why're we here?"

Kakashi smiled. "To look for your maybe student." He led them towards the building and stepped right through.

The person at the desk happened to be Kotetsu, who looked up with a grin. "Hatake-san!"

"Yo." Kakashi walked over. "It's been a while, Kotetsu."

The man grinned and waved at Sasuke and Naruto. "What can I do for you?" He asked. "I had the impression you did not like being here." Kotetsu said.

Kakashi shrugged. "Definitely not where I'd spend my free." He agreed. "But I'm looking for my student today."

Kotetsu laughed. "If you're talking about Kura-chan, she stormed in a while ago. We all knew who her teacher was the moment she said they were late."

Kakashi smiled back.

"You'll have to wait, though, cause she just went down. Seeing how she was, I doubt she'll be up for a while."

Just then, Izumo ran up to them. "Kotetsu! Kura-chan wants a bread kni-Oh, Hatake-san!"

"Izumo." Kakashi nodded. He paused upon seeing the blood on the man's arm.

The man waved before turning back to his friend. "Kura-chan requests a bread knife and salt." He raised his arm, which Kakashi realized was a diagram of sorts.

"Where's Chinatsu-san?" Kotetsu asked. He reached over the desk and grabbed a notepad.

"She's off for lunch."

"Dang." Izumo grabbed the notepad and pen offered to him and began scribbling furiously.

Kotetsu paused. "Hatake-san, is your team accepting missions?" He asked.

"Technically, I still need to..." He glanced over at the two, who were eagerly listening, and sighed. "Test them."

"Ah." Kotetsu shrugged. "Well, you up for a mission?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Kakashi asked.

Izumo slammed his pen down onto the table. "Here, done."

Kotetsu took it and raised an eyebrow. "As picky as always."

Curious, Kakashi leaned over to look at the drawing of a bread knife with measurements and descriptions and a list of materials.

Izumo blew the hair out of his face. "Well, I'm going to go wash this off." He said, waving his arm. "See ya."

Kotetsu waved off his friend then passed the notepad to Kakashi. "Well, look, you have your first D-rank."

"Kotetsu, we-"

"Hell yeah! A mission already!" Naruto chose that moment to stop trying to be quiet.

"Hn."

Kakashi sighed again. "What do we need to do?" He asked.

"Head over to Tetsubana-san's shop-you know, the one down the street?- and buy something that resembles this." He tapped the notepad.

"Tetsubana?" Kakashi frowned. "For a bread knife?"

"Who's that?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Sakura-chan likes that shop and Tetsubana-san likes her. Say it's her order and you'll probably get a discount." Kotetsu grinned. "Even if you don't, you can put it under the T&I."

"She's allowed to use T&I's supplies?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Kotetsu shrugged. "Ibiki-san lets her. She sometimes gets away with putting 'T&I' on her dango tabs."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully and tapped the notepad against his shoulder. "Well, you heard him." He said. "Tetsubana's shop is-"

"Who is Tetsubana?" Naruto demanded. "You guys can't just go on with your conversation while we don't understand, 'ttebayo!"

Kakashi sighed, not surprised by the blond's question.

"He's a blacksmith." He said. "Now, let's go, kiddies~" He quickly ushered them out of the building.

* * *

Tetsubana Yaiba was a blacksmith well known in the darker parts of Konoha. It was also a popular spot for restocking among the ANBU. Kakashi did not want to know how Sakura was on close terms with a man like that.

Kakashi himself had been there plenty of times and had to admit, the man's weapons were top notch.

Did he sell bread knives, he didn't know.

The Jounin led his two maybe-to-be students into the small hut that acted as Yaiba's store. The man probably had a forge somewhere.

There was a hollow clanking sound when the door was pushed open and Kakashi really hoped it was the bone of some animal and not a human.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced around the dim shop, eyes wide.

The shop owner was nowhere to be seen.

He sighed. "Tetsubana." He called.

"Father is out." Someone said. "And won't be coming back. Forever, maybe."

Kakashi turned towards the work table, where a teen with dark blue hair sat like he was glued to the chair. "Kodachi." He greeted.

The teen, Kodachi, sank lower into his chair. "He wanted to go find centipedes." He said quietly. "Why was I left behind? I don't like it when people come into the store."

Kakashi inwardly sighed and handed the boy the book. "I've got a request from Saku-"

"Sakura-san?" The boy asked, instantly alert. "Is she here?"

Kakashi blinked.

Naruto was instantly in the guy's face. "What's it to you, huh?" He demanded.

Kodachi yelped and leaned back. "Hu-huh?" He whimpered. "Who are you? I don't like it when people come into the shop!"

"That's what a shop's for." Sasuke said, eyeing the teen with suspicion in his eyes.

"And why must we follow such logic?" Kodachi asked.

"Be-because it's a shop." Naruto said. "You sell things and you can't sell them when people can't see them!"

"I should have gone for the centipedes." Kodachi muttered. "But father insisted and now I've let two crazies and a lazy bag of bones into the shop." He reached over without looking and took the notepad. He raised it to his eyes and frowned at it. "Oh, the Bread-and-limb-butter-cutter."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura-san requested it a couple of days ago. It's already made." He reached under his desk and pulled out a wooden box.

"Hang on." Sasuke bit out. "Was the Bread and...bread and..."

"Bread-and-limb-butter-cutter." Kodachi said.

"Yes, that. Is that the name of the knife?" He asked.

Kodachi nodded. "Sakura-san named it." He wrote down a few things on a piece of paper and stuffed it into the box.

"The T&I will pay for it." Kakashi said.

Kodachi sighed in disappointment but noted that down too. "So she still refuses to come see me."

"He-Hey! Wait! What were you saying about Sakura-chan?" Naruto demanded.

"Sakura-chan?" Kodachi demanded. "You call her so casually?"

"Of course! She's my team mate!"

"Te-team mate...that means you get to spend all your time with it..."

"Yeah, my team mate, so lay off her!"

Kodachi looked utterly crushed. "Bu-but I...I saw it first!" He said.

Naruto gritted his teeth but Sasuke, sensing something wrong, stopped his best friend from saying anything. "Uh, what are we talking about?" He asked.

Kodachi looked scandalized. "How can you ask such things?" He demanded. "Isn't it obvious? Gleaming in the eerie light, it brings judgement down on those it sees fit. That is true beauty!" He let out a dreamy sigh. "I absolutely love-"

Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke gaped at the teen. Kakashi leaned in, eager to her the beginning line of one of the the Icha icha books.

"Sakura-san's scythe!"

Sasuke blinked. "Ah...'it'."

Kodachi did not seem to notice. "The craftsmanship is amazing. The mechanism in the middle is well oiled and the layered metal traps the smell of the blood of those it chopped up, forever engraving it to memory." Kodachi sighed again. "I would absolutely love to hang it in my room but Sakura-san refuses. So I have decided to wait until the scythe is finally satisfied with all blood it has soaked in before I make a move."

Naruto thought about Sakura's psychopathic tendencies and Shikamaru's absolute laziness and wondered if all the crazies tended to band together without anything behind it.

Needless to say, Team Seven was traumatized before it even began.

* * *

"C'mon, spill!"

The man stubbornly shook his head.

Sakura, though inwardly pleased, shook her head. "Idiots these days." She grabbed the nail she had requested for earlier and stabbed it through her wrist.

The man let out another shrill cry of agony.

Sakura fingered the one she she had stabbed through a while ago and yanked it out. "One, two, three-" She tapped at the hole like wounds on her own arm. "-four, five, six...six." She spun the nail and roughly poked the man with it. "C'mon." She repeated. "At this rate, I'm gonna run out of space on my arm."

All the man did was spit out more blood. Sakura sighed. "Where is that stupid bread knife?" She muttered, and grinned when the man flinched. "Yeah, you got it right. I'm gonna saw-"

There was a knock at the door and Sakura turned around. Kotetsu stuck his head in, waving around her requested item. "Your teacher and your team are in the lobby." He said. "So maybe you might want to-"

"I'll take my time." Sakura said, grinning. "Like, this is so amazing! I have free access to almost anything I want and I can try out a whole load of things." She raised her bloodied arm to the man's face. "See? These are needles and these are nails." She smiled. "Needles hurt as much as nails, even though they're so small!"

Kotetsu, now used to this, rolled his eyes. "I'll tell them to wait a bit more." He said, then turned to leave.

"If they want to leave, tell them they can!" Sakura called. Once the door had closed, she spun the bread knife until it felt comfortable in her hand and raised it so that she could look at it in the light.

"Well, let's continue?"

* * *

 **So, here's chapter twenty...**

 _ **Darque: I dunno.**_

 **Raven: Me too.**

 _ **Darque: I have holiday and I have a stupid something something draft to hand in.**_

 **Raven: I'm still school, so you don't get to complain.**

 _ **Darque: You suck.**_

 **Raven: Thank you, you do too.**

 _ **Darque: What's got you in a bad mood?**_

 **Raven: I could ask you the same thing.**

 _ **Darque: Jeez.**_

 **Read and Review~**


	21. Life is like riding a Bicycle

**So, here's our New-year mass update!**

 **Also...**

 **NEW INFO STORY AT THE BOTTOM!**

 _ **Chapter TWENTY TWO**_

Shikamaru trotted into the T&I building, a bag of dango in one hand and a bag of clothes in the other. He entered the lobby and was greeted by the sight of the three males on Team Seven standing there awkwardly.

He had passed his Jounin-set test but he had a feeling Sakura hadn't even attended.

Of course, who was he kidding?

Naruto was the first to notice his presence. Well, call out on it. "Shikamaru! What are you doing here?"

The Nara sighed as he suddenly felt three heavy gazes boring into him. "Delivery." He said, raising the things in his hands.

"For your father?" Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru shook his head, recognizing this man. "Sakura."

Naruto opened his mouth to no doubt make a loud comment, but Izumo finally took pity on him. "Shikamaru-kun, how was your Genin team?"

Naruto's eyes widened as though he had remembered something and Sasuke grunted in annoyance, confirming Shikamaru's thoughts.

"It was okay." He said. "We passed." He added, just to rub it in. "When will Sakura be done?"

"She said soon." Izumo said cheerily. "She said she wanted to empty her bag of salt."

* * *

Sakura prodded her prisoner in a wound on his side with her salt soaked hand one last time for the sake of it.

Touji, the man who had been supervising, congratulated her before he sent her on her merry way. With no Izumo or Kotetsu to nag her, she made her way directly up the stairs. She hadn't brought a spare set of clothes because she had thought she would have time to fetch some, but that didn't matter, really, because blood felt nice on her.

Until it hardened, anyways.

She weaved through the corridors and finally popped out in the lobby. Izumo, who had some sort of 'Blood Sakura!' sensor was the first to notice. "Kura-chan! You can't-How many times have we-ARG!" he darted over and shoved her around the corner and out of sight.

Too late, though, because Sakura had seen Shikamaru. Carrying a brown bag.

Using the slipperiness of the blood, she slipped past the man. "Shikamaru!"

The Nara accepted the bloody hug without complaint. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Naruto and Sasuke's horrified expression and Kakashi's blank one and he sighed and closed his eyes.

"How was your meeting?" She asked. "Mine was great! The guy was so stubborn, though, so I got to take my-gyah!"

Izumo yanked Sakura back by her collar. "Change first, Sakura-chan." He said, a frightening grin on his face. "The only people who appreciate your blood-covered self is Ibiki-san." He glanced over at the exasperated Nara. "And Shikamaru-kun."

"Only when she cleans up by herself." Shikamaru offered. "Do you know how difficult it is to clean blood out of tatami?" He clearly remembered the time they had to replace the tatami in the living room because it stank too much of human intestines. It was not a pleasant occurrence.

Kakashi watched the three interact. He could feel a headache already.

And of course, things got worse. For him, that is.

There was a loud crash and a few fearful screams that quickly died off into whimpers.

"And me!" Someone screamed. "I like it too!"

Anko tossed the door, which she had pulled off its hinges upon her entry, pointedly across the room. Without even looking to see where it had landed, she turned around, arms on her hips and a smirk on her face. "Yo, fancy seeing you here, Bakashi!"

"Anko." Kakashi nodded in greeting, mind already plotting ways to excuse himself.

Anko seemed satisfied with the greeting for now and she turned to Sakura. "Immortal cult girl! Nice fashion sense."

"Thank you, Apprentice in the making." Sakura replied, flipping the hair. Shikamaru didn't even flinch when blood splattered onto his clothes. He wiped at a particular splotch on his face and sighed, reaching out to wipe his hand on Sakura's shirt.

Anko grinned psychotically. "I heard from Iruka that you guys got Bakakshi as your teacher and that you left so I thought you'd be here and what better time to walk in than when all of your are gathered?" She huffed. "Pity Ibiki isn't here."

"The old man is writing a report in his office." Sakura said. "I didn't even know he did things like that."

"T&I isn't all fun and games." Anko agreed. "Stay part time and you won't get the boring half."

Sakura nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." She glanced around at her frozen maybe-to-be teammates. "Bakashi seems to be a fitting name." She said thoughtfully. "I'll borrow it."

At this, Anko's grin widened. "Sure."

The two women, both a few screws loose, cackled at each other.

Izumo, who was used to this, sighed and wandered off to find a bucket and a mop. Sakura never cleaned up after herself.

Shikamaru, who was also used to this, purposefully shook his bag of dango. "Aren't you hungry?" He asked.

Sakura turned away from Anko and lunged at him again. "I am, Shika. How did you know?"

The Nara stepped out of the way with more grace than he had ever displayed at the Academy spars. "Change first." He said. "Chinatsu-san might slip again."

"Chinatsu-san looks ince in red." Still, Sakura obediently took the bag of clothes first. "I'll be back in a jiffy." She skipped off, leaving bloody footprints behind. The moment she was gone Izumo appeared, fully armed, with a clean mop. He trailed after her, wiping away the red marks.

Anko laughed. "This is going to be interesting." She said. "I wonder how many fingers you'll be missing by the time she's done with you." She leaned in dangerously close to Naruto, who jumped back in panic.

"None." Shikamaru said. "Filling for death is troublesome." He rolled his eyes when Anko sent him what was probably a out and turned to Team Seven. "I'll give you taming tips." He said. "Nothing much because most of it comes with experience but it'll help."

ANd he had learnt, some time ago, that what worked with one psycho tended to work with another.

Most of the time, anyways.

Soon, Sakura darted over to them again, looking as good as new. "Dango, Shika, dango!" Shikamaru handed over the other bag and she tore into. "You're a god, Shikamaru."

"Of dango?" The Nara asked. "No thanks."

Sakura wandered off, no doubt to find a place to sit, and once she was out of earshot, Shikamaru sighed and turned to Kakashi. "What happens now?" He asked. "She didn't take your graduation test but it is true that she had an official Interrogator job in her schedule and you were late." He fixed the man with a Nara worthy look, for once all traces of laziness gone, leaving behind only the sharpness of a strategist. "If I need to, I'll ask Ibiki-san to vouch for her."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "We'll just have to do it tomorrow." He said. "She's free tomorrow, right?'

Shikamaru nodded. "Unless something big happens last second." He sighed and just like that, the spell was broken. "How troublesome." He waved lazily and back hunched, he slowly began making his way towards Sakura, who was just finishing off the last stick.

* * *

 **NEW STORY:**

 **Those in Between (Sakura x Sasuke x Itachi) ((If there is a pairing)) :**

 **Sakura, a survived experiment, has skin that releases venom. To hide her from ROOT, she is taken in by Jiraiya and now acts as messenger for him and his spies. On a mission to find Tsunade Sakura meets Sasuke-the brother of a particular spy who pets her hair and buys her dango. Born to obey, she must take initiative for the first time in her life to save the people she cares for.**

* * *

 **So, team stuff coming up next chapter...unless something big happens...meh...**

 _ **Darque: I might just skip over all the boring bits and do the important bits.**_

 **Raven: Oh? Like that boring things and what interesting things?**

 _ **Darque: Boring like the D-ranks and stuff. Important as in the Wave arc and the Chunin Exams.**_

 **Raven: Wait...how much are you planning to skip?**

 _ **Darque: All the way until Sakura can show off her bloodiness!**_

 **Raven: But you need team bonding too. Don't you want her teammates to freak out?**

 _ **Darque: Hm...that is important too. I know! She can start off by eradicating the Tora mission off the roster.**_

 **Raven: Uh...how? Bad feeling here?**

 _ **Darque: She will decapitate him.**_

 **Raven:...Dear Readers, I'm sure she's joking...I hope.**

* * *

 **Happy New Year~**

 **(** **If it's a little early, re-read later :) If it's late, here's a belated New year greeting.)**

 **We hope you all have had a good 2016 and will have a bright year ahead.**

 **We thanks you for your continuous support and we hope you continue to read and review our stories.**

* * *

 **Read and Review~**


	22. To stay Balanced, you must keep Moving

_**Chapter TWENTY TWO**_

The next morning, Shikamaru kicked Sakura out of their bed.

Literally.

He positioned himself beforehand so that Sakura's initial swipe not scrape his eyeballs and her following lunge would not take him down.

It came with practice and experience.

The floor was hard and while Sakura was actually very light, she knew how to jam her elbows into one's ribs to knock the breath painfully out of them.

So, Shikamaru managed to escape with only a scathing glare. He would probably pay for it later, but that was not the problem here.

"You have a test." Shikamaru said. "And please don't fail; that'll just be troublesome."

Sakura scrambled to her feet and flicked her hair in mockery of Ino's action. "Of course not." She said. "Not that it'll be a problem if I do."

At Shikamaru's withering sigh, she continued. "Ibiki would love to hire me full time."

Shikamaru threw his arms up in exasperation and while Sakura wandered off to the bathroom to prepare, he gathered her usual equipment and set them by the door. She wandered out just as he had placed her scythe scroll beside her pouch.

"I'm going to pull immortalism today, maybe." She said. "You can come and see."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "In case you missed it, I have training today."

Sakura pouted. "Pity."

However, Shikamaru would be lying if he said he wasn't interested. "Maybe." He agreed.

"Hm." Sakura swung an arm over his shoulders. "Mkay then."

Shikamaru paused in the action of throwing it off. "Make sure you ask for the rules." He said. "When you make someone speak things out, they will always forget to say some things they have clearly mapped out in there mind."

"Do you think that'll work?" Sakura asked. "Kakashi seems unreasonable."

"Even he should appreciate a Genin exploiting the gaps in his words." Shikamaru said, though he felt unsure himself. It was true that Kakashi seemed unreasonable.

"I'll chop him up." Sakura promised.

"Please don't."

* * *

Sakura arrived a few hour late. She was early where Kakashi hadn't still arrived but her new teammates clearly didn't see it that way.

"Sakura-chan! You're late!" Was the first thing Naruto said...screamed at her. From across the bridge.

Sakura frowned at the boy.

"Hatake isn't here yet." She pointed out. "Which makes me not late."

"That's because Kakashi is always late." Naruto said.

"Exactly." Sakura pulled herself up onto the rial of the bridge. "And since he is late, I am not late by default."

"I'm not sure that's how it works." Sasuke said, but Sakura ignored him.

"So, has anyone figured anything out?" She asked.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "About Hatake? Anything interesting?"

The confusion on Naruto's face cleared and Sakura scowled when the boy actually seemed to understand. "I asked tou-chan about him; he was Kakashi's teacher." He frowned. "But he said that he wouldn't reveal the contents of the test."

Sasuke spoke up next. "Nii-san told me that Kakashi is a highly skilled shinobi. He was an ANBU before he was..."

"Demoted?" Sakura asked.

"That's not how the ANBU work." Sasuke said. "You can't just quit. There must've been another reason."

Sakura shrugged.

"How about you?" Sasuke asked. "Have you gotten anything?"

"Nope." Sakura shrugged again. "I met him for the first time yesterday." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes to gauge his reaction.

Sasuke gritted his teeth but just then, Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke, effectively ending Sakura's fun.

"Hello, my maybe-to-be students!" He called cheerily.

"You're late Kakashi!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke glared flames into the man's head.

Sakura scowled at the man but was pulled back by Shikamaru's rational voice in the back of her head. She clung onto that, unwilling to lose her cool yet.

"I'm glad to see that this time, all of us are here." Kakashi beamed. "But since we didn't get to do this yesterday, why don't we start with introductions?" He gestured towards Naruto. "You first."  
Naruto snorted, like he had figured something out. "Uh, no, Kakashi." He said. "Why don't _you_ go first."

Now, Sakura could think of a hundred and four ways for her to drag out answers of Kakashi if it came down to word games but she doubted Kakashi would pull this fair. She could see where Naruto was going too, though she doubted the usual rules applied with this man.

Kakashi shrugged. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't think you need to know my likes and dislikes. Dreams...Well, I have a lot of hobbies." He gestured in Naruto's direction. "You next."

"I'm Namikaze Naruto." He said. "I like ramen and sometimes Sasuke-teme. I don't like the time it takes for the ramen to cook and also, sometimes Sasuke-teme." Sakura remembered Naruto preaching about his dream of becoming Hokage and she wasn't surprised when he became serious. "My dream is to be accepted for my own doings." It seems that is the only topic as of yet where the boy can be serious. "My hobbies...pranks, I guess."

Sasuke went next."My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like a lot of things but I don't particularly dislike a lot of things either. My dream is to surpass my brother and my hobby is training." Sasuke's tone was a little light when he mentioned his brother and it was obvious that he didn't dislike his brother or anything. This didn't surprise Sakura either. She had seen Itachi a few times, excluding their first meeting, and knew that they were close. Sasuke's worship of his brother sometimes reminded her of her own relationship with Jashin.

She doesn't necessarily dislike intense beliefs.

Kakashi turned to her and Sakura proudly begins her introduction. "I am Sakura. I like Jashin-sama and I dislike those monks down South from Suna, because Jashin-sama is the real god here. My dream is to spread my religion and my hobby is working in T&I, broadening my fingernail collection and annoying Shika."

Her maybe-to-be teammates all look at her strangely and she smirks, then mentally adds 'and creeping out my teammates' to her list of hobbies.

* * *

 **Here's chapter twenty two~**

 **Just a note; 'First Time to see the World' has been completed (Our second complete story, yay~) If you haven't checked it out, please do so :)**

 **Raven: Finger nails, sounds like you.**

 _ **Darque: I like eyeballs, not fingernails.**_

 **Raven:...I see...**

 **Darque: So, unless a bomb hits Naruto-verse, bell test will be next chapter~**

 **Raven: Yay~**

 _ **Darque: I wonder what tricks Sakura will try to pull.**_

 **Raven: O.O You know.**

 _ **Darque: I know I know! I was the one that wrote it.**_

 **Raven: Then why did you question?**

 _ **Darque: It's to make our readers think.**_

 **Raven: That won't work.**

 _ **Darque: Huh?**_ **Why?**

 **Raven: Because how is someone who can't think supposed to know how other people think?**

 **Darque:...:'( Imma go cry now.**

 **Raven: Wait, what? no! Don't! I didn't mean it! I mean-okay, maybe I did but...yeah...don't cry.**

 _ **Darque: Okay.**_

 **Raven:...Anyways, look forward to that~**

 _ **Darque: Yeah, look forward to it~**_

 **Read and Review~**


	23. Life is like a Shadow

_**Chapter TWENTY THREE**_

Kakashi quickly explained the rules of the 'Bell Test' and Sakura instantly lost interest.

Wasn't it just yesterday when she had had to endure a speech about Konoha's team mechanics? If they had to turn against one another to pass some stupid test, why had they been put in three-man teams in the first place?

But thinking was not something Sakura enjoyed and she quickly pushed it to the side.

"The person who doesn't get a bell will be sent back the the Academy." Kakashi said.

Sakura frowned at this. She had spent _years_ suffering in a classroom when she could have been running around chopping things up and she was not going to do that again. Failing did not exactly mean a year delay for her, who had a space in the T&I department, but she had gotten this far. Passing meant she could go out of the village too.

Not to mention, Shikamaru could be real naggy when it came down to it.

So she mentally pictured herself chopping up her teammates and by the time she had opened her eyes again, everyone seemed ready to go. She quickly raised her hand.

"Yes, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Are those the only rules?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Yep."

Sakura nodded to herself and lowered her head to show that she was done.

The moment the "Start!" was called, Naruto and Sasuke vanished off into the trees, leaving Sakura to mask her chakra and head off into the opposite direction. Kakashi did not follow either of them.

Once she had traveled a little while, she stopped on a branch. Sasuke and Naruto were friends, and there were two bells. Sakura had known from the start that it would be her against all three of them. This didn't faze her, not really, and Sakura quickly gathered her thoughts.

She didn't like thinking, but she was damn good at it when she had to. She reattached her scythe summoning scroll to her thigh for ease of access and checked over the equipment she had. Three packets of explosive tags and several dozen kunai and shuriken among a few slightly more... _uncommon_ items.

And a couple of special blades made by Tetsubana, but she wasn't going to ruin that surprise in some stupid test.

She didn't have any blood samples from anyone on her team yet, and she doubted she would be able to take any from Kakashi if he were half as good as Shikamaru had claimed to be. Naruto and Sasuke would be an easier option but that wouldn't really aid her in fighting the Jounin, especially due to her limited movement range once she used Jujutsu: Shiji Hyouketsu.

She suddenly heard a loud sound and decided that Sasuke and Naruto had engaged first. She quickly made her way back towards their starting point, curious too see what her maybe-to-be teammates had to offer.

* * *

Shikamaru glanced up at the sky for the fifth time in the past minute and let out another yawn. Team Ten were doing spars and Shikamaru was currently sitting out while Ino and Choji argued as much as they were fighting. Asuma had said it was to gauge each other's strength but he thought it was quickly escalating from there.

It wasn't his problem until it became his problem, though, so he pretended that he didn't see anything.

He tried to ignore the other lingering thought in his mind too, but the way the sun glared down at him everytime he unconsciously glanced up soon made it very hard for him to do so. FInally, with a heavy sigh, he got to his feet. "Asuma-sensei." He called.

The man turned around to face him and Ino and Choji broke off their fight to watch curiously.

"What is it, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru stifled a yawn and muttered a 'troublesome' under his breath. "I have to go somewhere." He said.

"You do?" Asuma asked.

"You're not going to go off and nap, are you?" Ino asked accusingly.

"Of course not.." Shikamaru sighed. "I just have to...yeah..."

"Well, technically, you're not supposed to run off during training without a proper reason..." Asuma fixed him with a serious look. "But, I'll let you off this once."

Shikamaru blinked gratefully, wondering if it were the slight fear for his life in his eyes that had convinced the man, and quickly made his way out of the training grounds.

* * *

By the time Naruto and Sasuke had managed to get within five meters of Kakashi, Sakura had seen enough to know that the Jounin was not someone she could fight against and win.

Head on, anyways.

He was faster and stronger than her in almost all ways. Her main choice of weapon would put her at an disadvantage in the trees while open area combat would surely put her at an arsenal disadvantage.

Kakashi was not trying to kill her, so her Immortality, which would come in handy when trying to outlive an opponent, would not give her an edge either. Unless she went in for a suicide attack, which she would then have to make sure was a 100% effective.

She thought back to the equipment she had on her, a plan already slowly forming.

Not the most honorable of ways, but she was a shinobi, not a samurai, and she would welcome any and all advantages that came her way.

With an evil mental cackle, she summoned several bottles from a scroll

Someone landed beside her and Sakura scowled at them before thrusting a few bottles in their direction. "You are so _late_." She hissed in annoyance. "But I'll let it slide this once. Now, here's what I want you to do."

 **So, here's chapter twenty three~**

 **WARNING: Next chapter will be kind of gore-y and violence-y and contains self harm. We will put up another warning at the beginning of next chapter twenty three as well.**

 _ **Darque: I'm currently sitting in class, writing this.**_

 **Raven: History?**

 ** _Darque: Not this time. This week, we have this thing where we all jut work on assessment like stuff and I'm currenlty supposed to be planning some major around-4000-words essay thing._**

 **Raven: Uh...that's nice?**

 _ **Darque: I know, right? Very nice.**_

 **Raven: I was being sarcastic.**

 ** _Darque: I know._**

 **Raven: Oh.**

 _ **Darque: Well, I have to go. I need to talk with the teacher dude soon.**_

 **Raven: And you wonder why you fail all your tests.**

 _ **Darque: This world is more than numbers and grades!**_

 **Raven: I'll listen to your preaching once you actually pass school.**

 **Read and Review~**


	24. No one can Escape it

**New story info at the bottom~**

 **AS MENTIONED IN THE END OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, THERE IS A LOT OF SELF HARM IN THIS ONE, SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.**

 _ **Chapter TWENTY FOUR**_

Sakura ran through the trees, knowing that Kakashi most likely knew where she was and hoping that Naruto and Sasuke would be enough of an distraction for Kakashi.

She skidded to a halt when her current bottle ran out of liquid and she quickly sealed it into her scrolls then opened the next before continuing her run, leaving behind a trail of gleaming grass and earth.

She had soon finished her loop and she skidded to a halt when the familiar starting point of her run appeared in front of her.

She crossed her finger, pulled out a match and tossed it into puddle. Instantly, the fire ran along the gasoline, burning everything on the forest ground as it followed the trail she had left behind.

"Ibiki is so gonna kill me." Sakura let out a laugh and jumped up into the trees again. "So I'll have to pass this test so that I can become a Genin and avoid him until he calms down a little."

Destroying the forest wasn't necessarily against the rules set and the main training grounds between the trees and Konoha itself would stop the fire from spreading towards civilian districts.

She quickly ran chakra down to her throat and using a technique she had quickly learned last night, she blocked the smoke from entering her lungs, the began making her way back towards where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting Kakashi, not doubting at all that they could already smell and maybe see the flames.

* * *

Kakashi felt it then moment Sakura had stopped her circles to head toward them. Naruto and Sasuke had jumped the moment the fire had started and had retreated almost as though Sakura was replacing them.

What Kakashi hadn't been expecting, was to find himself unable to move. The technique itself wasn't that strong and he could have probably easily broken out of it, but it wasn't the immobility, but the element of surprise, that Sakura was looking for.

Suddenly, she was right in front of him, her scythe slashing a light cut across his arm. She didn't go for a bell, which was a good thing on her part because, a split second later, Kakashi had broken free. Sakura quickly jumped back and did not waste any time licking his blood off her weapon.

Kakashi remembered the time years ago, when she had done the same thing with Yugao. Sakura's skin instantly turned black, skeletal marks appeared over her.

A trail of fire shot out between them, separating them on either side of a wall of flame.

Kakashi immediately remembered what he had read about her ability on her file but it didn't matter. Sakura vanished into the trees and a second later, the injuries began.

* * *

Sakura scrambled back to the clearing she had set up earlier and stepped into the circle she had drawn before her attack. The first thing she did was sit down and smash her kneecaps.

With the healing abilities Jashin had bestowed upon her, she would be able to fight again in a short while. Also, broken bones healed faster than injuries.

She then stabbed her leg a few times in case Kakashi happened to be some super-case where broken kneecaps did not stop him from walking. She then proceeded to mangle her fingers a little, just to play safe.

In minutes, she had healed enough to not be able to feel the pain. She got to her feet and tested out her weight on her knees and satisfied, she headed back in the direction she thought Kakashi had collapsed.

* * *

Kakashi had just managed to douse most of the fire with a water technique and pull himself underground before Sakura seemed to have destroyed her fingers and in turn, his as well.

It had been a while since he had endure anything so close to an interrogation.

A few minutes later, he sensed Sakura reenter the clearing they had fought in.

As he had thought, she had some extraordinary healing abilities.

He kept his senses on her signature, mind whirling with what other unnoted tricks Sakura had up her sleeve. The girl was skilled and she knew how to use what she had on her. However, as far as he could see, her skill set made her a very poor team fighter. If she were to ever be a part of a team, he would have to teach her moderation.

"Ka~ka~shi~!" Sakura called.

Kakashi, from the safety of the underground, forced his mind into combat mode in order to ignore the pain. Somehow, he managed to swallow a soldier he kept on him out of habit to help with the blood he was losing. Suddenly, he felt a second chakra signature enter the clearing. Whoever it was felt familiar but was not a part of the maybe-to-be Team Seven.

"He vanished underground." They said. "Sorry, but I didn't want to risk my own life stopping him."

Sakura huffed. "Ah well, that was close enough."

"But you still haven't gotten a bell." The newcomer commented. "At this rate, you're going to fail." There was a pause. "Did you even think through why everything was set up the way it was?"

"Of course not, Shika." Sakura said, and the identity of the newcomer clicked. "That's your job."

He could feel Shikamaru roll his eyes. "Ah, right, and I wouldn't be there to think over everything for you, like today. I'm not even supposed to be here."

"But you are here and there was nothing about not allowing outside help." Sakura said triumphantly.

Kakashi strained his hearing to catch the words shared between the two.

"So, the technique Kakashi used to escape underground. What was it like?"

"The earth turned into sand and he just wadded through it." Shikamaru said. "He still could use his fingers, so that was before you finished off destroying your hands."

That didn't matter, though, because the bell rang in just that second and Kakashi was left wondering how he was supposed to dig his way back up to the surface again.

* * *

 **NEW STORY:**

 **The Invisible Sun within Us (Naruto x KHR Crossover):**

 **Sakura was supposed to be dead, so when she realizes that she is in the body of a child, she curses fate. She curses Naruto's pain, Sasuke's path of revenge, Kakashi's broken start and the second chance she doesn't deserve. Still, she swears to keep the girl alive. She had stolen the life of a girl with so much in front of her; it was the least she could do. Sakura reborn as Chrome**

* * *

 **Soooo...yeah.**

 _ **Darque: Sakura is cool.**_

 **Raven: Uh...right, yeah.**

 ** _Darque: She is, isn't she?_**

 **Raven: She is.**

 _ **Darque: Yeah.**_

 **Read and Review~**


	25. Life is like Quicksand

_**Chapter TWENTY FIVE**_

Pakun ended up having to call someone to dig him out and Kakashi found himself talking to his team about the test from a bed in the hospital, which totally ruined the lecture he was planning to dish out.

He didn't really know where to begin, either, because Sasuke and Naruto had worked together and Sakura had brought in some outside help and worked together and the basis of the exercise had been met.

Kakashi mentally sighed and glanced around the room at the Genin. Sakura sat crossed legged by the door, humming a tune and already lost from this world. Naruto and Sasuke were arguing in the opposite side of the room, trying and failing to be quiet about to as they got more and more riled up.

The nurse tending to him wrote something down on her clipboard and placed it back on it's holder above his head. "You'll be required to stay here until tomorrow afternoon at the very least, Hatake-san." She said. "If anything happens, please call using the bell."

The moment the door closed, Sakura scrambled to her feet and skipped over. She plopped down on the bed, jolting his aching limbs. "So what now,Kakashi?" She asked. "I have an appointment with the Old man and I have to leave real soon."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Are you not interested in how you did?" He asked.

Sasuke and Naruto perked at this and they quickly made their way over. "I sure am." Naruto chirped. "But really, Kakashi, how did you get all those injuries?"

Kakashi sighed again at the last of formality. _Kakashi_ , they said. Really, where was the respect?

"I chopped him up." Sakura announced.

"You didn't really." Kakashi muttered. "More like mangled all the important bones in my body."

"Really?" Naruto turned his shining eyes to Sakura, who let out a huff and mimed flicking her hair. "How'd you do that, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's eyes gleamed dangerously. "It's Jashin-sama's blessing." She said mysteriously.

"Jashin-sama?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded. "It's my religion." She explained. "Jashin-sama grants his chosen followers with lots of unique and very powerful abilities. He allows me to do all sort of cool things."

"Like break bones." Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded. "And I'm also immo-"

"Sakura." Kakashi coughed, cutting her off. He had no idea if this fell under restricted information. Sakura seemed to understand, though, and to his relief, she dropped it there.

"Anyways, if you want to know more, you're first going to have to swear your allegiance and loyalty to Jashin-sama and be willing to sacr-"

Kakashi let out another cough, once again cutting her off. Sakura turned to him, looking annoyed. "What now?" She asked.

"You cannot go corrupting people with Jashinism." Kakashi scolded. "Anko running around trying to mimic your rituals is more than enough."

Sakura shrugged apologetically at the boys. "Well, you heard the prick. I'm not allowed to say. I guess you'll have to do your own research and if it really interests you, I can teach you." She pushed herself off the bed and began walking towards the door. "Anyways, I have a meeting with the Old man I just cannot miss. You can send a Chunin to the T&I building before sunset, or directly to the Nara compound after that for meeting time tomorrow and if you have anything else to say to me."

Then she was gone.

Kakashi was glad his fingers were already broken and throbbing, because if he still had any, he was sure he would have broken them himself.

Sakura didn't even know if _she had passed_.

Kakashi sighed and wondered if it would be possible to call a nurse and have her knock him out.

* * *

Shikamaru was waiting for her at the entrance to the hospital. Sakura skipped over to him and the two began making their way down the street.

Shikamaru was first to breach the topic they both knew was burning in his mind. "Hey. Did you pass?"

Sakura shrugged, enjoying the look is disbelief that spread over the Nara's face. "Kakashi didn't tell me."

Shikamaru threw his hands up into the air. "If you tell me I left my own team training for you _not_ to pass, I am going to go take a nap."

Sakura snorted. "Training? I doubt you were training."

Shikamaru nudged her and Sakura shoved him back just as they reached the T&I building. "Oh look Shika, I gotta go. No time for you nags." Sakura dodged away from Shikamaru's approaching elbow. "Maybe I'll listen to you later over a bowl of dango or two or ten."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and waved as Sakura vanished into the building.

* * *

Ibiki looked torn between scolding her for half rendering one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi useless and praising her from doing just that. Anko, on the other hand, was as pleased as a mother hen and Sakura decided that if the woman bought her more dango, she would decimate Kakashi all over again.

Ibiki drew a line there, though, and he kicked Anko out without even flinching at her threats.

Sakura sat and pretended to listen to Ibiki's clearly reluctant speech about teammates and whatnot. She even amused him by nodding in agreement once or twice.

Both of them knew she didn't really mean it.

"I like Sasuke and Naruto, though." She told the head interrogator once he had finally stopped. "I think I'll keep them around."

"The Hokage's son is not a pet you can keep for a few days then toss out." Ibiki said, a smirk on hsi face. "Neither is the Uchiha second heir."

"You don't believe a word you are saying." Sakura pointed out.

Ibiki's smirk widened. "Oh look, we have an interrogator here."

Sakura grinned proudly and crossed her arms. "What can I say? Jashin-sama has decided he enjoyed my show with Kakashi and decided that I deserve a treat."

Ibiki snorted and halfheartedly chased her out of his office.

* * *

 **So, here's chapter twenty five~**

 _ **Darque: So like I said, Sakura is awesome.**_

 **Raven: Is this story basically about Sakura beating people up in the most brutal ways possible?**

 _ **Darque: Oh, how did you finally figure it out?**_

 **Raven: Are you asking how I figured it out or why it took so long for me to figure it out?**

 _ **Darque: Both, but I don't really care for the answer so yeah.**_

 **Raven: Oh...okay?**

 _ **Darque: However, things will maybe get more serious as she gets older, so yeah.**_

 **Raven: Okay.**

 **Read and Review~**


	26. You Sink the more you Struggle

_**Chapter TWENTY SIX**_

Sakura woke up the next day feeling giddy.

A Chunin had arrived at the compound last night and she was to meet her official teammates today.

She was feeling excited about it, actually. She skipped out of her room and stormed into Shikamaru's.

After a couple of groaned complaints and shouting, the two of them left the Nara compound.

Shikamaru promised to come get her once he was done and with that, the two of them went separate ways. Sakura arrived at their allocated training grounds two minutes before the set time.

Ibiki had told her that Kakashi was almost always late but that didn't mean she couldn't get there early.

She sat down on the ground and frowned when there was a familiar tugging in her stomach.

Sometimes, Sakura could feel it, when someone with the same beliefs as her did something really big. It was like a warm tug within her stomach that seemed to call for her.

By now, she was good at ignoring it but once in awhile, she wanted to chase after it, to see what she would find.

And this was a 'sometime' occasion, Sakura thought as she threw on her clothes for the day. She was sure it was Hidan, because she knew her god would have told her if someone else had been converted and accepted. And if she remembered, her senior was as enthusiastic about their religion as she was.

One day, she really wanted to see what his workspace was like.

She soon sensed Naruto and Sasuke approaching and half heartedly noted that they were late.

Well, kind of.

She stood up and waved.

Naruto was the first to grin and wave back. "Hey Sakura-chan!"

"Hn." Sasuke marched beside his friend, hands in his pocket. He nodded in greeting.

Sakura grinned, baring her teeth, then sat back down.

It would be a long wait, she could tell.

* * *

Kakashi was around 3 hours late.

Sakura, who had been prepared, had just finished polishing her kunai when he poofed into the field. Naruto and Sasuke immediately flew at him and began demanding why he was late while Sakura calmly got to her feet.

Kakashi gave them a brief talk that Sakura really didn't care about. He then had them settle down on the training grounds. "You'll be threeway sparring today." He told them. "I need to work out possible team formats and whatnot."

Naruto was quick to jump onto Sasuke, no doubt thinking this was a perfect opportunity to finish off the fight that had started prior to the Jounin's arrival. THe Uchiha was bowled over by the force and the two of them went tumbling.

Sakura heard Kakashi sigh but when he did nothing to pull them apart, she drew a kunai and jumped on top of them.

"Nothing that will permanently maim anyone." Kakashi called.

He sighed again.

He had a feeling someone would be a limb short from the way Sakura was waving her blade around like a mad woman.

* * *

Sasuke knocked Naruto backwards when he saw Sakura fly at them. The two of them collided but Sakura was quicker to recover than he had anticipated. She used Naruto's slightly dazed form to push herself back into the air. Sasuke quickly drew his own weapon and there was a sound of metal hitting metal as their blades clashed.

Sakura neatly ducked his fist and swept his feet from underneath him. Sasuke cursed himself as he stumbled but managed to use the momentum to pull away just as Naruto barreled towards them again.

The blond caught the side of Sakura's head and sent her bowling. Sasuke took this chance to jump onto the Hokage's son and the rolled around a little before Naruto got the upperhand. Sasuke pulled back and opened his mouth to spit out a fireball, only to choke mid breath when a strong force knocked into him from behind.

He let out a few coughs that sent up puffs of smoke and choked down the chakra he had been preparing.

Naruto let out a snort at the display. "You look like a kettle." He taunted. Sasuke rammed an elbow backwards and flew at Naruto when Sakura clumsily ducked in order to dodge the blow.

Naruto choked on his following words as he once again landed on the floor.

Sasuke drew back and made a show of clapping his hands together. "Idiot."

A glint of silver caught the corner of his eye and he drew a weapon of his own in order to block the handful of shuriken Sakura had launched.

"No maiming." Sakura said, as thought to remind herself. "But anything short of that is okay!"

She flew at him again and the moment their weapons clashed, Sasuke could tell that Sakura had the upper hand in this matchup. After a few clashes, Sasuke hopped back. He raised his kunai but Sakura did not relent in her approach. The Uchiha pivoted and spun using the momentum, thrusting the blade in her direction, anticipating a block with her own kunai, which he would use to twist the weapon away from her.

However, the girl merely ducked past his first attack and raised a hand when Sasuke quickly drew back his weapon. Her bare hand lashed out and caught the blade of his kunai in a tight grip.

Sasuke stiffened and his instinctive actions of pulling his weapon away made blood splatter everywhere. Sakura did not seem fazed, though, and she swung her bleeding hand in his face, momentarily blinding him with her blood. Sasuke felt a firm kick plant itself into his stomach and it sent him flying with a grunt.

"Sakura-chan! You're bleedi-"

Naruto's panicked cry was cut off by a grunt and Sasuke scrambled to his feet. Sakura stood over a dazed Naruto, licking the blood off her wounded hand and looking as though she hadn't just wiped the floor with both of them. There was a bloody fist shaped mark on Naruto's face and he did not doubt that she had delivered a mean right hook.

The girl seemed really proud of herself, though, and when Kakashi approached them, book in hand, she wasted no time in skipping over and smearing bloody marks all over his vest.

At the Jounin's unimpressed look, she grinned. "Anko told me you like bloody hugs." She stated. "Oh, I feel so refreshed~"

Sasuke had already suspected, but he had now confirmed it with his very own eyes.

There was something wrong with this girl.

* * *

 **Here's chapter...uh...twenty six~**

 _ **Darque; I have an essay due yesterday.**_

 **Raven: Oh, well, you'd better get on with...huh?**

 _ **Darque: It was due yesterday.**_

 **Raven:...How?**

 _ **Darque: It basically means I am behind and late.**_

 **Raven:...When are you not?**

 _ **Darque: Good pint.**_

 **Raven: At least deny it.**

 _ **Darque: I am not always late.**_

 **Raven:...Just finish it?**

 _ **Darque: I'll try.**_

 **Read and Review~**


	27. Life is like a Window

_**Chapter TWENTY SEVEN**_

When Shikamaru arrived at the Team Seven training ground to an awkward looking Sasuke and Naruto talking to the side while watching Sakura hanging off of Kakashi like a monkey to a tree, he knew whatever thoughts of _moderation_ the girl had sworn to try and stick to had flown out of her mind at the first prospect of a battle.

He slouched further at the mess he might have to deal with and tried to catch Sakura's attention from the edge of the training grounds, so that he didn't have to walk towards them.

For a second, he had forgotten that this Sakura had let go of all moderations and he didn't know why he jumped and bothered rolling his eyes when Sakura shouted his name loud enough for everyone to hear the moment she caught sight of him.

"SHIKA!"

The Nara sighed and waved.

Sakura scrambled off of Kakashi and darted over. "Shika! Why are you here?"

Shikamaru pointedly looked up at the sky and Sakura gasped. "Ibiki!" She took off without another word and Shikamaru wondered with a heavy heart if leaving him to deal with her team was going to become a habit of the pinkette.

* * *

"SAKURA!"

The pinkette turned away from the mirror and glanced towards the bathroom. "What?"

Shikamaru stormed out, huffing. "Did you dissect a mouse in the bathtub?" He asked.

"Squirrel." She corrected. "And yes, I did. Didn't you see all the blood?"

The Nara rolled his eyes and without another word, flushed everything down the drain.

"You'll clog it." She said.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Better than bathing in squirrel guts."

The two of them ate breakfast before heading out for their day's training.

"I finish at around five." Shikamaru said. "You?"

"I have an appointment with Ibiki at around three." She said. "I'll be in T&I."

Shikamaru nodded. "Okay."

They soon headed their separate ways and Sakura hummed as she skipped down the street.

Shikamaru clearly did not like mice and squirrels. Perhaps it was too small?

She nodded to herself.

Maybe she could find a raccoon or something this time.

* * *

Sakura glared at the cat in Sasuke's firm grip. Her fingers traced the claw marks the the creature had left in her arm. Deep enough to sting a little, but not enough to bleed.

It's half hearted attempts to hurt her pissed her off a little; at least draw blood.

Maybe Shikamaru would be okay with a cat.

* * *

Kakashi did not like D-rank missions. Of course, no one really did, but he had grown to dislike them more than usual, especially the 'paint the walls' mission.

He did not believe it one bit when Sakura claim to have mistaken blue with a dark shade of red.

He wanted to groan when Naruto painted his section in orange, claiming it looked better.

And he wanted to pull all his hair out when Sasuke accidentally spilt his tub of blue paint all over the grass, because he knew Sasuke's favorite color happened to be blue.

* * *

Sasuke hated walking the dogs the most. Sakura probably smelled too much of blood and insanity and Naruto was too loud and not responsible enough, while lead to him holding the leash to _all_ the dogs.

He thought Kakashi had seen teamwork as the most important factor, but perhaps he had been wrong.

* * *

Naruto...though he would never admit it out loud, kind of _liked_ the missions. Of course, they weren't what he necessarily wanted to do when he could have been doing something much cooler, but these missions seemed to allow him to observe his teammates. Kakashi was as lazy as ever. Sakura looking like she wanted to roast and eat Tora was kind of worrying and Sasuke's insistence that blue was better than orange annoyed him to no end but still, Naruto thought it was the only way to see past the top layer of one's character without fighting it out on the battlefield, because his teammates could blow fire and grab the sharp end of knives like it was nothing and that did not really give him a chance to think things through.

"Slacking off, Usuratonkachi?"

Naruto looked up just in time to have a handful of soil covered weed was tossed at him.

"Naruto-chan, slacking off is not nice. Yes, Sasuke-chan?"

Naruto half groaned and half grinned at Sakura's seemingly newest habit, which was adding 'chan' to the end of everyone's names, regardless of gender. He really wondered what kind of life she lead outside of team training.

Sasuke let out a hiss of annoyance, because Sakura had surprised both of them when she had first said it and now had stubbornly refused to drop it.

Naruto threw the handful of weeds back at his best friend and stood up. "Of course not, _Sasuke-chan_ ; I'm not you."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and Naruto let out a laugh when the Uchiha bowled him over. Sakura cried out in protest and a second later, he heard Sasuke grunt and felt an extra weight fall on them both, because as she had once exclaimed, 'fighting without her was not nice'. In the distance, he was sure Kakashi had sighed but the man made no attempt to stop them.

He was a once ANBU Jounin who had survived up to this point. He knew a thing or two about survival and one of the tips he had were, do not get involved with idiots.

Who knows, it might be contagious.

* * *

 **So, here's chapter twenty seven~**

 _ **Darque: It feels like Naruto is the one thinking the most in this story.**_

 **Raven: You'd know, wouldn't you?**

 _ **Darque: Why's that?**_

 **Raven: Because you never think.**

 _ **Darque:...**_

 **Raven: What? Just the truth.**

 _ **Darque: You always say things like that. It's not nice.**_

 **Raven: What made you think I'm nice?**

 _ **Darque: The fact that you are going to come pick me up at the airport tomorrow?**_

 **Raven: Oh! You're coming back!**

 _ **Darque: Yes, for the summer.**_

 **Raven: Oh, I can't wait :)**

 _ **Darque: Me too :)**_

 **Raven: In case you didn't get it, Darque will be coming back to Japan for the summer. Yay~**

 ** _Darque: Yey~ Don't worry, though, we'll keep updating._**

 **Raven: It's the holidays, too, so maybe faster updates?**

 _ **Darque: Maybe. I hope your wallet is full.**_

 **Raven:...I hope so too.**

 **Read and Review~**


	28. Sometimes, it's a good View

_**Chapter TWENTY EIGHT**_

"Can we not have a cooler mission?" Naruto demanded. "We've been walking dogs and children and painting walls since forever!"

"We walked the dogs and babysitted the children." Sasuke hissed. "Who walks children?"

Beside the arguing boys, Sakura looked very thoughtful. "I feel I would like to do something different too." She announced. "I'm sick of cats."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation at his teammates but inwardly agreed. He shot Kakashi a look from the corner of his eye and dismissed the man as no help.

Minato sighed. "Well, why don't I give you something a little different, hm?" He smiled and passed them a file. "There's a C-rank, an escort mission."

* * *

The man they were to guard was a old bridge builder. Sakura returned home that day, feeling half happy and half unsure.

"Shika, I got I mission outside the village walls." She said.

Shikamaru looked up from where he had been lying down, reading. "Oh. Already?"

Sakura nodded. "Naruto-chan insisted and Hokage-san gave one to us. We're going to Nami no Kuni."

Shikamaru rolled over and sat up. "It's very humid there." He said. "You should take care of your scythe."

Sakura hummed, then reached over to grab her weapon maintenance kit. "That's a good point."

"Kunai and shuriken?"

"Oh yeah."

"Summoning scroll?"

"Hmm."

"Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Right."

"Change of clothes? Emergency food?"

"Good idea."

Shikamaru watched Sakura stumble around the room, grabbing the rest of her stuff, and sighed.  
He really hoped nothing happened.

* * *

The moment she stepped out of the village walls, Sakura was reminded that the walls that had shielded her off from the rest of the world were really just that.

They were just walls, and there was so much more out there.

Her now nonexistent Jashinist temple was out here too.

Still, Sakura found she no longer really cared about that. The Jashinist part of her was satisfied with her kills and blood spills, and if her victims were a little anti dramatic and unable to retaliate, it didn't seem to care too much.

Sakura was satisfied and Jashin-sama was satisfied, so she was fine with way things were.

But that didn't mean she didn't yearn for more once in awhile, and she really didn't think anyone minded if she chopped up the two men who had sprouted from the puddle in the middle of the road.

Water, blood, puddles were puddles.

* * *

When the chains tore through Kakashi, Sakura was surprised. While her two teammates stiffened and let out shocked cries, Sakura was a little disappointed to admit that she really couldn't bring herself to care.

Not when a rush of red splattered the ground.

Her hand snaked out and she snached the next chain that flew towards them. The metal dug into her palm and all she felt was a burning longing and her recently forgotten thirst raised its ugly head.

To her, it was nothing short of beautiful though.

She yanked the chain towards herself and used the momentum to throw herself at one of their attackers. She caught sight of Sasuke and Naruto moving to deal with the other shinobi and turned back to her opponent.

There was no time to summon her scythe, not if she wanted this man to herself. Instead, Sakura drew a kunai from her pouch.

This was such a long awaited fight. She would tear him apart.

* * *

Sakura had to admit, she wasn't really interested in what the bridge builder had to say. She snarled at the pair of enemy shinobi Kakashi had tied up after he had popped out of nowhere to knock them out.

It was not fair.

It was her first time out in forever, and her first time in a long time where she could fight to her heart's content without restraint, because there was no Ibiki, no outside interference, or so she had thought.

The two shinobi glared right back and Sakura ran a hand over her throat.

Her eyes longed to see and her tongue yearned to taste blood. Her fingers missed the sticky sensation and her nails wished to dig into flesh.

Her mind was screaming for a fight and her body did nothing but edge her on.

Her team decided to stay, but at that point, she no longer cared how things went.

All she wanted to do right now was unleash her blade of death upon someone and send Jashin-sama a proper greeting.

* * *

Despite everything, even Sakura was aware that something was wrong as they ventured deeper into the humid land.

The bridge builder got more and more nervous as they went and when the blade came hurtling through the trees towards them, Sakura was a second earlier than her teammates in ducking.

The man that appeared on the handle of the blade, reeking of blood and leaking killing intent, something called out to her.

It was the blood, she could tell.

With practiced ease, Sakura summoned her scythe in a smooth, single motion. However, Kakashi seemed to know what exactly was going through her mind. "Stop."

Sakura froze and slowly glanced out at the man.

 _Was he trying to stop her?_

A part of her wanted to ignore the man but the part of her that had grown since she had arrived in Konoha tried to hold her back.

Kakashi slowly released her arm and stepped forward to shield the rest of them. "This man is not someone you can hope to fight."

Sakura did not see what he did next, but he must have done something, maybe said something, because Naruto and Sasuke stepped up on either side of her and forced her to step back towards them and their client.

"Watch the client." Kakashi ordered.

There was something different with the man, something unlike his usual stance, and Sakura forced herself to stop.

The man standing opposite them gave off a wift of potential. She was fine with left overs, as long as there were leftovers.

She could wait.

* * *

 **Chapter twenty eight is here~**

 _ **Darque: So, a little choppy, but we wanted to get to the good parts, so...**_

 **Raven: You wanted to, actually. I just went along, as usual.**

 _ **Darque: Mhmm, but really. It'll get more interesting, and Sakura will pull some cool Jashin sheit soon.**_

 **Raven: Uh...okay, then.**

 _ **Darque: Can't wait~**_

 **Raven: Okay...?**

 **Read and Review~**


	29. Life is like a Leaf

_**Chapter TWENTY NINE**_

The fight between Kakashi and Zabuza was blood curling and despite not actually partaking in it, Sakura, for the moment, found she was satisfied. Killing intent and the smell of blood filled the entire clearing. The unnatural mist that had flooded the clearing made everything harder to see but Sakura could clearly hear the sound of blade hitting blade and flesh hitting flesh, and that was all she needed to picture exactly how the fight must be going.

Sasuke and Naruto, her teammates, stood on either side of her, shoulders raised and weapons in hand. Their eyes flew from one side to another, and Tazuna cowered behind them.

Sakura's scythe hummed in her hands and in that instant, something in the fight seemed to change.

Instinctively, Sakura swung her weapon in an arc. The mist before her seemed to break apart and water splattered onto her face as the water clone is destroyed. Sakura gave her weapons another swing and the mist completely parted, revealing a huge bubble of water. Zabuza stood with an arm sticking into it while Kakashi floated within.

"Oh?"

Sakura took a curious step forward and Kakashi instantly began yelling.

However, she couldn't really make out what he was saying, because Naruto and Sasuke were saying something behind her and there was blood splattered on the floor and it had been _too long_ since her last real fight and Jashin-sama was whispering in her ears-

 _Kill him._

Everything cleared before her eyes. Suddenly, there was nothing there. Nothing but her, blood, blades, and her sacrifices. Her scythe lightened in her hands.

 _Kill him._

* * *

Sasuke sensed it the moment something changed in his teammate.

Sakura laughed out in pure joy and she raised a hand to her face to cover her mouth. "Oh, Jashin-sama. Of course. If that is your wish, it is my command. I will be absolutely _delighted_ to act out your desires!"

She was crazy.

The girl glanced casually over her shoulder. "You and Naruto-chan can be bait, hm? How about that?"

Sasuke found his body would not move.

"This fight was over the moment I was caught." Kakashi yelled. "Take the client and run!"

Sakura did not seem to hear the Jounin and in the split second Sasuke had turned away to glance at Kakashi, the girl had vanished from between them. He looked up to find her slowly walking towards Zabuza.

Sakura stopped a few feet before them. "Sorry, Kakashi, but teammates should not fight without allowing others to partake. You taught us that."

Sasuke didn't even bother correcting her, _because she was crazy_.

"Teme! Oh god, what do- what do we do?"

Sasuke glanced over at his best friend, who looked like he was about to hyperventilate, and urged his frozen legs to move. "We-we stay of course." He snapped. "I refuse to run."

Naruto glanced over at him, then his face melted into a forced. "Ri-Right."

A water clone popped up behind the pinkette but before either of them could even yell a warning, Sakura had cut right through it with her weapon.

"Oh, Kakashi, looks like you have brats with some potential, hm?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "Still, you don't know who you're messing with, brat."

Sakura laughed, one that was all snarls and teeth. " _You_ don't know who you are dealing with. Demon? Don't make me laugh. No demon is match for a god!"

For a split second, Sasuke could have sworn he saw a silhouette of someone in a cloak floating beside the girl, but he blinked, and it was gone.

* * *

Sakura could no longer register anything around her. Her teammates, their client, they all vanished to make way for her expanding white world.

A white she would fill with red.

She cleared a few more water clones before she found herself right before the real body.

Zabuza, even with an arm unusable, was very strong and Sakura Knew without a doubt that if he had both arms, she would most likely be missing a limb or two.

But that didn't matter, not to her, because Jashin-sama would guide her no matter what she did, and as long as he did, she would never die.

The moment she swung down her weapon onto Zabuza's own blade, she felt it become heavier.

She could feel Jashin-sama gripping the handle with her.

With a simple smooth action, she detached her weapons from each other and swung the other without hesitation.

"You're unlike any of the others. You sure you're a Konoha brat?"

Sakura sneered. "I'm not from Konoha." A foot came at her from below and she pushed off on her blades to dodge the kick.

"I thought so. Not bad, but guts alone is not enough on the field."

Sakura realized in the next split second that while midair, she would never be able to dodge the next blow, because Zabuza was _fast_ , even with a weapon as heavy as the one he used.

She swung her scythe in an desperate attempt for the momentum to knock her out of the way and just about managed to avoid decapitation: She wouldn't die, but she doubted anyone here had the necessary skills to reattach her head to her body and she did not want to be headless for the rest of the mission.

She'd take losing an arm over her head any day, she thought, as Zabuza's blade splattered her with her own blood and she lost sense of her left hand.

Was it weird that the scream that followed was not her own?

Sakura grimaced at the sticky liquid now coating her and frowned when her barely attached arm did not respond.

"That was very not nice." She muttered. "Not nice at all." At least she had managed to nick the man too. She tuck a finger into her mouth and licked off the flesh and blood she had managed to tear off of Zabuza's arm. She enforced chakra into her foot to leave markings on the water beneath her. "Hey, you couldn't have waited a few more minutes to try and cut off my arm?" She called, as her skin turned into its signature black.

It would definitely have been funny if he had cut off her hand, only to realize his own was missing as well.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed again but Sakura ignored the boy. She just had to free Kakashi, right? Well, her right hand was already useless and Zabuza had his right hand in the prison. She promptly spun her weapon and hacked off her right arm.

Zabuza's right arm exploded in red as Sakura's now lack of hand mirrored itself on him. The limb went limp and an arm no longer attached to one's body could not circulate chakra. The water prison collapsed and Kakashi was onto Zabuza in a second.

Sakura inspected her clean cut them stuffed her stump into her clothes to try and slow the bleeding. She picked up her detached arm in her left hand; she would sew it back on later. At the sound of flesh hitting ground, she looked up just in time to see Zabuza collapse, something shiny sticking out of his neck.

As thought a mist was clearing, the red slowly faded. Sakura felt ghostly fingers trace over her arms before they vanished. The pentacle on the surface of the water, drawn with her own chakra, vanished and a second after, the markings on her skin faded.

The thrill of the fight ebbed away, and all that was left was a high feeling that came with the pleasure of battle.

As her entire body began to feel lighter than ever, Sakura decided that she loved Shikamaru, liked Ibiki, and enjoyed the sessions in the T&I, but what she loved most was the feeling of unrestricted fighting.

* * *

Sasuke was the first to move, but the moment he did, Naruto felt his limbs loosen. He rushed forward and he could feel Sasuke close behind him. "Sakura-chan!" The girl turned around, her eyes no longer the insane green from just a few seconds ago. Naruto gasped at the blood coating her clothes and the stump of her arm. "Your arm...you cut off your arm!"

"Yep." Sakura giggled and waved her detached arm hello. Naruto felt sick.

"Why would you do that?" Sasuke snapped. "You-"

"It was clear I couldn't approach Zabuza, and this was a good way to remove his arm." Sakura let out a sigh and ran a hand over the fingers of her detached other arm. "It was nothing."

"Also, that. How did you-"

Sasuke was cut off when someone new arrived in the clearing. The three of them whipped around and watched just as a boy wearing a mask appeared. He said a few words to Kakashi before he picked up Zabuza's now limp body and vanished.

"He got away." Sakura murmured, so quietly Naruto just barely caught it. "How boring."

"Sakura-chan?"

The pinkette turned and held out her detached arm to him. "Take care of it."

Naruto took it before he could think her words through, but it was too late to give it back.

Sakura collapsed.

* * *

 **So, a very late chapter.**

 **Was also rushed.**

 **And tired. (?)**

 _ **Darque: I'm sorry. I'm late. I was busy.**_

 **Raven: I'm sorry too. We were both busy.**

 _ **Darque: School. Life.**_

 **Raven: Exactly.**

 _ **Darque: I feel dead.**_

 **Raven: And tired**

 _ **Darque: Yeah.**_

 **Raven: But writing is fun.**

 _ **Darque: It is.**_

 **Raven: Finding the time to write is hard though.**

 _ **Darque: That is so true.**_

 **Raven: But yeah. Sorry we're late. Life captured us and refused to return us even though we paid random.**

 _ **Darque: Life is a b*tch.**_

 **Read and Review~**


	30. It takes time to Grow

_**Chapter THIRTY**_

Between Tazuna, Sasuke and Naruto, they managed to carry their two collapsed teammates back to the bridge builder's house.

Well, Naruto carried the girl's arm very carefully, like it was some godly object, or maybe like it was a _bloody detached arm_ , but Sasuke couldn't really blame his friend.

After all, it was an arm, and it wasn't every day you got to see one not attached to a person.

The moment they had arrived at the house, Tazuna's daughter rushed over and began fretting over them. Kakashi and Sakura were put into a spare room and Naruto and Sasuke dutifully planted themselves between their two beds. Naruto started hauntedly at the arm in his hands then placed it on the table beside Sakura's bed. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, stared at the arm as she entered the room but she didn't question it, for which Sasuke and Naruto were grateful. The woman checked on the two unconscious shinobi then gave the two boys check ups too. "What you need is some food and a good night's rest." She told them gently. "I could bring your food up here?"

The two of them thank the woman and they sit well into the night in heavy silence.

* * *

Sakura woke up to a dim lit room and a dull throbbing in her head. She moved to sit up and the first thing she noticed was that her movements were heavily restricted. She glanced down slowly and noted the bandages wrapped around what were probably wounds. She reached for her pouch, which was sitting next to her arm, and awkwardly cut through the bandages with a kunai to reveal perfectly healed skin.

She had failed to deliver a dead body, but Jashin-sama had given her a second chance. Feeling disgusted at herself for messing up such a good chance to deliver a powerful sacrifice and a little giddy that her god hadn't abandoned her, she searched around for the sewing set she had packed just in case, grabbed her arm, positioned herself on the bed, and set to work.

* * *

Naruto woke up to soft grunting sounds. He let out a yawn and slowly sat up, instantly noticing the very much awake pinkette sitting on the bed.

"Sakura-chan! You're awa-" He froze.

Sakura sat on top of the previously white bedsheets. White sheets that now looked like someone had killed a horde of rats on. Sakura's hands were covered in blood and she worked needle and thread through the last few centimeters of detached flesh.

"Sakura-chan? I don't' think that's how it works..." Naruto trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled. Having only one arm, she had been using her teeth to help herself out and she had blood all over her mouth, probably from the wound she had freshly opened on her elbow in order to attach her arm.

Naruto thought she actually looked _good_ in blood, then stopped his train of thought. What was he thinking?

Sakura yanked at the string a few more times then neatly bit off the needle end. "What time is it?" She asked.

Naruto peered out of the window. "The fight was yesterday." He told her. "I'd say it's around five in the morning?"

Sakura hummed then rummaged around her bag for a roll of bandages. "Naruto-chan, can you wrap this for me?" She held out her surprisingly good needlework on her arm. "After that, we should both sleep a little more."

Naruto wordlessly moved to wrap bandaged around Sakura's newly reattached arm. He didn't know what she hoped to accomplish through this, but she had just lost her arm.

He would support her any way he could.

* * *

Sasuke woke up to Naruto's very loud exclamations. He groaned softly and glanced out the window and decided that it was probably around nine.

He had never slept in before, not for a very long time, but he remembered the fight from the previous day and decided to let it slide for once. He turned over to Naruto to complain about the noise, only to stop short as he watched Sakura whack the blond upside the head with her right arm.

Which should have, if he recalled, been chopped off cleanly.

"What?!"

Sakura and Naruto looked up. Sakura grinned at him and waved with her _very much reattached arm_ and Naruto looked like he was in a state of shock.

He would be too.

"Sakura? Wait, how-You arm-"

"Jashin-sama has decided to give an incompetent me a second chance." Sakura said cheerily. "I must now work hard to-"

"She sewed it on with a needle." Naruto interrupted her. " _She sewed it on with a needle._ Does it work like that?"

"Of course not, dobe." Sasuke snapped, but he was beginning to feel unsure himself.

Had it all been a dream?

"Sakura, hold up four fingers." He said.

The pinkette did as asked.

"Two."

Sakura complied

Sasuke hopped off his chair and shot over to her side. He grabbed her arm, where he remembered the detachment to be, and moved it around. He ran a finger over the skin and only felt smooth flesh.

"How is that possible?"

Sakura grinned. "Have I not said?" She asked. "I am blessed with Jashin-sama's protection. I am an immortal."

"Does being immortal help you attach arms?" He asked sarcastically.

He didn't know what to think. He hadn't taken the girl's exclamations about immortality seriously,. But could it be true?

Sakura frowned at this. "The best method will probably be healing chakra." She said. "Because this needle and thread work is a little jagged and my arm feels just a little weird. It'll heal, but it might be inconvenient if something similar were to happen in the future. Maybe I'll learn it at some point."

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who looked just as shocked as he did. "She sewed it on with a needle." Naruto repeated, as though he were still stuck in that realization moment from a while ago.

Sasuke kind of understood him, though.

* * *

Kakashi woke up to Naruto and Sasuke's very loud exclamations. He sighed, rolled over, then went back to sleep.

He was too tired to deal with this.

* * *

 **So...update?**

 _ **Darque: Kinda late, I know.**_

 **Raven: Sorry about that.**

 _ **Darque: We're trying, though.**_

 **Raven: So please bare with us.**

 **Read and Review~**


	31. Life is like a Cup of Tea

_**Chapter THIRTY ONE**_

Sakura did not really understand the fascination with her hand.

She had already revealed that she had the backing of a god, of course he could pull off miracles.

Naruto and Sasuke did not seem to be able to accept this, but they did shut up for a while when Tsunami came to check on them. She blanched a little at all the blood but she took up all the sheets and carried them off to wash. She also checked on Sakura's wounds, than those of Kakashi, who revealed he had been awake for a little while. They were all invited down to eat breakfast with the rest of the family and Sakura trotted after her teammates as they raced down to take a seat, her arm momentarily forgotten.

Sh soon noticed a heated glare boring into her head. She quickly noted it to be coming from the boy Tazuna had introduced as Tsunami's son and his grandson but whenever she looked up, the young boy, Inari looked away hastily.

What was his problem?

Naruto and Sasuke did not seem to notice as they stuffed food into their mouth like they were competing and Kakashi did not seem to really care. Sakura shrugged and continued to eat.

Soon after, Kakashi lead the team back to the room they had been lent and sat them down onto the floor. "I'll get straight to the point." He said. "Zabuza is alive."

Sakura perked at his while both Naruto and Sasuke sat up and instantly began to protest.

"But Kakashi, the Hunter-nin killed him!" Naruto said.

"You checked." Sasuke added.

"Is he really alive?" Sakura asked. "I have a bone to pick with him."

All three males shot her a blank look and turned away, dismissing her entirely. "Hey!"

"The neck has no vital points." Kakashi said. "Not to mention, the bodies of all missing nin are to be destroyed on the spot. I believe that the Hunter nin was his accomplice, a means of escape in case things went wrong."

Naruto and Sasuke went quiet at this and glanced at each other. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't seem to have even heard the latter half of the explanation.

He was alive. Zabuza was alive!

This time, she would kill him, she would kill them both. Zabuza would die for making it out with his life and the Hunter nin would die for aiding him with running away from the honor of being sacrificed to her god.

She could _feel_ her god laughing in approval.

* * *

Later that day, Kakashi took them out into the forest to train, in the form of climbing trees.

Sakura, much to the surprise of her teammates, happened to have the best chakra control out of all of them, and she was currently sitting on a branch far above their hears, throwing down anything she could get her hands on.

Sasuke knocked an acorn out of the air without looking up. He grunted in annoyance.

"How does she do it?" Naruto asked. He had, once again, fallen off his tree.

"Maybe her god helps her." Sasuke said, shrugging.

Naruto groaned. "That is so cheat."

Sasuke glanced at his tree, which had braters on its trunk, and then Naruto's, which was clean of any marks. He thought of how Naruto fell or, while he was reflected off.

The two of them were doing things differently, and they both ended up falling.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called. "Does your, uh, god have any words of wisdom to share?"

Sakura glanced down at him and blinked a few times. "What do you do with water when you make ramen?" She asked.

Sasuke had no idea what she was getting at, and Naruto didn't seem to either. "Uh, you use it to make the soup and make the noodles edible."

Sakura nodded. "Too little water and the noodles are hard, too much and the noodles go soggy. You have to find that perfect, _perfect_ amount."

Sasuke was beginning to think crazy people were only understood by crazy people when Naruto froze and his eyes widened. "Oh. OH!" He darted off back to his tree with a loud. "Thank you Sakura-chan!"

Sakura grinned and waved. "Don't fall and die~"

Sasuke had no idea what just happened. Ha also had a feeling his teammate was wishing anything but.

* * *

Kakashi had Sakura remain with the family at the house while the boys continued to attempt to climb the tree.

He would have had the girl accompany Tazuna to the village but when he tried to picture the scenarios, all he got were images of rolling heads and missing limbs and decided that the poor villagers didn't need something more terrorizing that Gato wandering around.

It was during dinner when Inari finally seemed to gather the courage to say what he seemed to be thinking for a while.

"Why do you try so hard?"

The question itself was very simple, but both Sasuke and Naruto stopped arguing. "Huh?"

"You're all going to die! Gato's going to kill all of us! Why do you try so hard?"

Everyone froze, and it was Sakura who first broke the spell. She coughed stiffly then quickly swallowed the tea she had in her mouth before she spat it out. She hit herself in the chest a few times and took a few deep breaths before she pointed at herself, an incredulous expression on her face. She choked out a laugh and jabbed at herself again. "Me? _Die?_ You okay brat?"

Inari jumped, probably not having expected such a reaction. "Wh-what-"

"Die he say. He says I'm going to die." Sakura laughed, one unlike her usual laughs of cruel enjoyment. This one was filled with genuine amusement. "I'm immortal, I cannot die. What's a businessman going to do to me? Bury me in money?"

Kakashi recalled the time from months ago, when he had first seen Sakura, covered in blood and a countless number of swords sticking out of her.

"Ga-Gato's very rich! He's got a lot of money and he hires tons mercenaries. You're just a-a kid! You're no match for them!"

Sakura abruptly stopped and leaned in closer towards the boy. "Gato is but a man." She said slowly, like she was talking to a toddler. "Behind me stands a _god_. In battle, my body is his tool, my weapon an extension of his very limbs. No man, _no mortal_ , can beat a god."

Inari stared at her, his entire frame shaking. With an abrupt turn, he darted out of the room.

Kakashi stifled a sigh as Tsunami and Tazuna began explaining how Inari had lost his father to Gato. He glanced over at Sakura and saw her standing exactly where she had been when Inari had run off.

 _Behind me stands a god._

Kakashi thinks back to the temple, to Sakura standing in the middle of a massacre of both Jashinists and the attackers alike. A host to a god of death and destruction sounded just about right.

* * *

 **So, chapter thirty one~**

 _ **Darque: More fighting, more gore, more Sakura to come.**_

 **Raven:...Yay.**

 _ **Darque: Can't wait.**_

 **Raven:...Right.**

 **Read and Review~**

 **(Also, the rewrite of 'Of Tales Now and Long Ago' is up, so please do check it out~)**


	32. It's all in how you make it

_**Chapter THIRTY TWO**_

"Are you really?" Sasuke asked Sakura that night. Naruto had run off after Inari and Kakashi had sighed and shook his head and wandered off somewhere with his book.

Neither had come back yet.

The girl blinked and glanced over at him. "Am I really what?" She asked.

"Immortal." He said. "I might have asked you this before and you keep saying it, but like really actually?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm used to people doubting me." She said. "I'm sure you've asked me before. And yes, really. Like, actually. You could cut my head off, or I could cut my head off, and I'll still be alive. Of course, I'll be decapitated and because my body would have no brain to command it, only my head will be able to move, but if you sew the two parts together, I'll be as good as new."

Sasuke winced at the example but he steeled himself and kept going. "And that's because of your God?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Jashin-sama is the God of death, destruction and calamity. As long as I comply to his wishes and continue to sacrifice mortals to his name, he will bless me with this gift."

"So if you stop sacrificing..."

"The gift will wear away."

"And then you'll die like...like a-"

"Normal human being?" Sakura asked. "I think so. My teacher used to be an immortal but he stopped the sacrificing to become a teacher for the younger followers and his immortality wore off. After all, he died during the invasion."

"Then why doesn't it spread more?" Sasuke asked. He had to admit, underneath the gore, there was a little interest and fascination. "I mean, we're shinobi. As you go up in ranks, you'll no doubt get around to killing bandits on missions and the likes."

"Because you don't just suddenly become immortal." Sakura told him. "There's a special ritual and years of preparation building up to it." She smiled. "Why do you think Jashinism is so frowned upon?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That was the point, he thought. His father had scoffed at the name of the religion and his mother had looked sick at mention of the practice alone. "Why's that?"

Sakura blinked and looked at something behind him. "Because humans cannot accept what they do not understand." She said, almost as though she were reciting something, before she paused. "Because I am merely a defect who failed to become a monster." She said quietly.

"What made you defective?" Sasuke asked, just as quietly.

Sakura smiled. "The fact that I am aware my actions are inhumane."

"It doesn't stop you." Sasuke pointed out.

"It doesn't." Sakura agreed. "But this awareness alone makes me a failure as a monster."

"It makes you just a tab bit more human." Sasuke smirked.

"Yes, or that's what I've been told."

* * *

Sakura chopped Kakashi and Sasuke up into miniscule pieces in her head as she stormed through the forest.

It was not her fault Naruto had gotten lost or had fallen down a ditch or had been found by Gato or had been killed or _whatever_ , so she should most definitely not be the one having to go look for him.

She sighed again and was about to just shout out the boy's name to see if he was anywhere near by when she sensed a pair of human chakra signatures coming from a little distance away.

One was Naruto, and the other...Sakura narrowed her eyes. She drew a kunai and quickened her pace.

An androgynous figure appeared from the trees and Sakura instinctively sent out a wave of chakra. Noting that Naruto was still alive, she sighed and turned back to the male who had stopped to watch her.

Sakura plastered on a condescending smirk. "Hello, mortal."

"You're the girl that cut off Zabuza-san's arm." The boy's eyes trailed down from her face to her left arm. "You cut off your own arm, and his arm was torn off as well. However, it appears you either have a very skilled medic with you, or there's some other unknown force working alongside you. Seeing how Zabuza-san's arm detaching seemed to be a result of you cutting off your own arm, I'd say it's the latter"

Sakura ran a hand over where the cut had been. "You're bright."

The boy smiled, and while she didn't know why, it was a smile that made Sakura want to scratch his face off. "You were supposed to be a side dish to Zabuza but I'll promote you." She told him. "I have deemed you worthy enough to spill your blood for Jashin-sama. I am Sakura. You may tell me the name of the mortal who will experience the pleasure of being of use to Jashin-sama."

Sakura had been expecting the boy's smile of a mask to break, but it did not.

"My name is Haku." The boy told her.

"Haku, white." Sakura smiled. "That is a nice name." She said. "White is the perfect color to absorb your blood." She spun her kunai and pointed it directly at him. "I await the day I taint even your name."

She then marched right past him, set on knocking her blond teammate to Suna.

How dare he make her look for him?

* * *

Sakura was woken from her nap by Kakashi, who told her that they would be accompanying Tazuna to the bridge. She sighed and pulled herself up.

"Naruto was out late last night so he won't be accompanying us."

"I was out looking for him, but I'm still going?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I tried to wake him up." He told her. "He isn't reacting."

Sakura sighed again. "I get to fight Zabuza?"

"We're protecting the client, not looking for a fight."

Sakura sighed a third time. "He's alive and biding his time, right?" She asked, then rolled her neck until a satisfying crack echoed throughout the room. "He better show up."

* * *

 **So, here's chapter thirty two!**

 _ **Darque: I still don't know how this is going to turn out :D**_

 **Raven: I don't either. Lot's of blood?**

 _ **Darque: That, I'm sure of.**_

 **Raven: Well, look forward to that...?**

 **Read and Review~**

* * *

 **Dear Readers,**

 **Happy New Year~ (A little too early, or a little too late, maybe.)**

 **Thank you for everything up to this point, and we hope you continue to support us throughout 2018.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Darque and Raven.**


	33. Life is like a Battlefield

**_Chapter THIRTY THREE_**

Sakura may not be a sensor type like some of the people in her temple had been or have had the white eyes of the Hyuuga, but on the battlefield, she had the close to perfect tool to track down those she had marked.

Her God was all-seeing, and he would not allow their prey to escape her a second time.

Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to trust her instincts enough to draw their own weapons when Sakura straightened at something through the thick mist and summoned her scythe.

Kakashi turned over to her. "See anything?" He asked.

"We're late," Sakura replied. "They're already here."

* * *

Kakashi glanced around the littered bodies of the workers on the bridge and narrowed his eyes. "It appears you're right."

"Of course I am," Sakura said, and her tone is suddenly so much lighter and happier. "I always am."

The Jounin turned his gaze to the girl, who was tossing her scroll, the one containing her scythe, into the air and catching it repeatedly. Suddenly, she swiped it out of the air with a chakra coated hand and her weapon appeared neatly in her grip. She swung the blade and pointed into the mist with it. "Hi~."

Two figures appeared in the distance, and they were soon revealed to be Zabuza and his accomplice.

Sakura was quiet for a moment before she swung her weapon and balanced the handle against her shoulder to take a casual stance. "Actually, can I take the Hunter?" She asked.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Sasuke, guard the client."

Sakura correctly took his as a yes. She let out a cheer and made a show of twirling her scythe around her body. "Come on, boy, let me act out on my promise."

The Hunter nin did not verbally reply, but he followed Sakura as she moved to draw away from the main battle.

Kakashi sighed before he turned towards the S-class criminal standing before him.

* * *

Sasuke gritted his teeth in annoyance and both Sakura and Kakashi ran off to fight, leaving him with guarding duty. Of course, he understood that their mission was to protect the bridge builder, and that made his job the most important, but that did not mean he had to be happy with it.

He kept an eye on the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza, and another on Sakura and the Hunter-nin.

Kakashi's battle was interesting, mainly because the battle was between two highly skilled, well known shinobi. If he had his Sharingan, he would no doubt be eagerly observing to try and pick up the many high-skilled techniques the two were throwing at each other.

He turned towards Sakura's fight. However, he had a feeling the girl's fight was on a whole different level altogether, though not because she was more skilled or anything. The girl fought with a ferocity he had never seen before. If he had to be specific, her fighting style was more like Zabuza's hacking than Kakashi precise swipes.

She fought like battle was a path and her opponents were mere obstacles to her destination, and he found that fascinating.

* * *

Sakura knew fighting, and she knew death, and the moment her opponent danced away from her weapon, she knew he was not fighting to kill. Sakura was aware that her fighting style could be countered by those who were agile and aimed to slip past her heavy attacks to find a weak point and she had also trained hard to remove this particular weakness.

Her opponent clearly had the skill to steal past her guard and yet, all he pulled out from the shadows of his cloak were senbon, a weapon she considered herself to be at an advantage against.

She had to admit, the boy was accurate with them. However, she had been raised and training to consider pain a part of battle. As the senbon she could not dodge or deflect dug into her flesh, all she could feel was the thrill of experiencing yet another part of battle.

"If you don't fight to kill, you'll die!" She called out. "Do you know that? You know that, right? Your companion is Momochi Zabuza, and he seems to know that." She dug the heel of her weapon into the ground to swing herself up into the air, dodging the next barrage of senbon sent her way. "To be honest, you don't seem much of a fighter. I mean, you're good, I think, maybe, but you don't fight to fight. I can tell."

The attack stopped and Sakura curiously turned to face her opponent. "What?"  
"For what reason do you fight?"

Sakura made a face. "What?" She repeated.

"The reason you fight," Haku said. "What is it?"

"To fight?" Sakura shrugged. "I fight to fight so that I can kill people and sacrifice them."

The Hunter nin does not reply for a while before he began to speak again. "Before all this, I lived on a farm with my parents, whom I dearly loved. We were poor, but we were happy. Then something happened, and everything changed."

Sakura grinned and leaned in. She didn't like stopping in the middle of fights, but if it was a good story, she could let it slide.

"The Land of Water had suffered terribly from civil wars and those with a Kekkei Genkai were hated."

"So you have a Kekkei Genkai?" Sakura asked, proud she had come to the conclusion herself.

"Yes, and because of that, because of this blood, my father killed my mother, and tried to kill me." Haku chuckled bitterly. "That was when I realized that the worst feeling in the world was when no one wanted you."

Sakura realized with a start that she understood him. After the massacre of her temple, no one had truly understood her and her religion. People tried, and some accepted her regardless, and she really _really_ liked Shikamaru, but deep down, she understood that where she stood and where everyone else stood were separated by a ravine. However, she did not fear loneliness, she decided, not really, because her God would never abandon her.

"So you fight for him." Sakura said.

Haku nodded.

"But you don't like fighting." She noted. "I can tell, and usually, I'd be offended, but this is fascinating in its own right. Something about Momochi Zabuza allows you to get over your dislike of spilling blood and fight."

"Zabuza-san took me in." Haku's tone brightened at the mention of the man. "He knew I had a Kekkei Genkai and yet, he took me in and raised me. He wanted this power that everyone else despised." The Hunter nin raised one hand and formed a seal she had never seen before. "So for Zabuza-san, I will use this power."

Around them, mirrors made of ice erupted, surrounding the two of them. In the distance, Sakura heard Sasuke's cry of alarm.

However, Sakura found herself unable to care, because, in that moment, she _understood_. A laugh tore itself from her throat and she doubled over, unable to stop herself.

"I just realized something very funny." She gasped out in between laughs. "We're alike, you and I. Both of us are denying what we really are for someone else. Oh, this is exciting." Sakura spun her scythe and once again dropped into a stance. "This is a battle of belief and loyalty." She announced. "Momochi Zabuza and Jashin-sama, let us see which one of them will be the one to force us to cut through the final thread between who we really are, and who we are becoming."

* * *

 ** _Darque: Sorry about the late update. Please ignore errors unless theyr'e so horrendous you can't understand anything. This chapter was very rushed._**

 **Raven: Yeah, what she said, sorry.**

 _ **Darque: Blame life. It's mean.**_

 **Raven: What did it do now?**

 ** _Darque: School! Exams! I'm going to fAIl EvERYthINg._**

 **Raven:...Good luck...?**

 **Read and Review~**


	34. Some Win, and Some Lose

_**Chapter THIRTY FOUR**_

Sakura was raised under simple rules.

You listened to god.

Jashin was god and, therefore, you listened to Jashin.

Jashin told you to kill and, therefore, you killed.

The words whispered into her ears were those of a Gods. She acted out the will of a superior being. It was a honor for him to even bother with a small existence like her, and it was him that gave her insignificant self meaning in life. She was one of Jashin's limbs and, in exchange, he gifted her with the ability to escape the fear of death.

As long as she remained loyal, her God would never abandon her. It was a set promise, and it was absolute.

However, the boy before her fought for a man, a mere mortal. Momochi Zabuza could give him nothing more than companionship at best and, in their line of work, death was always right around the corner. One unlucky turn and it was all over. And yet...

Sakura watched the boy before her fly at her with his weapons brandished, trying to kill himself more than he was trying to kill him. She dodged his attack and used his momentum to shove him away. The boy twisted in mid air and slipped back into a mirror.

"I grew up in a temple, surrounded by fellow Jashinists." Sakura said to no one in particular, because she knew Haku was listening. He had told her or his past, after all, he deserved this much. "One day, people who held a grudge against us massacred them. I was the only one that survived, because I had Jashin-sama's favor. I've been living in Konoha since."

Haku does not reply.

"Tell me," She called. "What do you see in Momochi Zabuza that allows you to destroy yourself like this?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Haku's soft voice floated towards her. "What do you see in your god that allows you to deny your own humanity?"

"I am not denying anything." She replied easily. "My time in Konoha has taught me something, and that is that the people there do not see the world the way I do. In a world where God exists, we are nothing more than insignificant specs in this playground we call reality. Jashin-sama is one of these Gods, and he is part of what created us. Doesn't that mean he owns us?"

Sakura felt a sense of euphoria as each word left her mouth, because the more she spoke, the more she knew she was stating the truth.

"We Jashinists kill and sacrifice in order to curry the favor of our creator and ruler. You humans believe our practice to be inhumane and monstrous, but who are you insignificant beings to try and go against the will of Jashin-sama? After all, if our own creators expect his followers to sacrifice for him and deliver to him the souls of our own kind, isn't this how the norm should be?" She swung her weapon down and pointed it towards one of Haku's many reflections. "I am merely living how we should be in this world, and it is you, who deem us abnormal, that are struggling and going against the very norm you preach."

Haku does not reply for a long while and when he speaks, it is like he is addressing something she cannot see. "We aren't alike."

Sakura froze. "What?"

"I thought we were." Haku admitted. "But maybe we aren't. I mean, I wake up every morning and willingly follow Zabuza-san to his next destination. Like you said I may not like it, but I follow him into battle and I follow him when he kills. However, you are different." Haku smiled softly. "You wake up every morning fearing your God abandoning you. You desperately throw yourself into battle and turn to your God after each kill."

"Jashin-sama will never abandon me." Sakura snapped. "We are bound by a promise. As long as I continue to fulfill my role, he will never toss me aside."

"And you desperately turn yourself into a monster in order to continue fulfilling your role." Haku argued. "It is exactly as you said. Jashin will be the forcing you to cut the line between who you are and who you are trying to become, because Zabuza-san is not forcing me into anything. I have a choice. You don't."

Sakura opened her mouth but Haku pushed on. "As for the answer to your question-" He appears from one of his mirrors and stands in front of her. "Zabuza-san needs me." He said, then almost accusingly added, "Your God does not need you."

Sakura saw red.

* * *

Haku knew loneliness.

He knew what it was like to be aware of how alone one was, and that was why he knew that the most saddest thing of all was not being aware that you were lonely.

The girl before him, Sakura, fell into this category.

Haku had grown up with a family and, despite how that had ended, he knew what it was like to have people who wanted him and loved him. That had been why loneliness had hit him all the more harder. However, Sakura appeared to have grown up alone, surrounded by people who stayed around only because of their obligation towards their god. If one did not know companionship, they would never understand loneliness.

She could feel the gaping hole in her heart but she did not know why it felt so empty. This was why she was trying to fill it with the one thing that was constant in her life, and now that it felt full, she feared the return of the emptiness.

He wanted her to realize this, and when Sakura flew at him, reaching out towards him like the grim reaper himself and blinded by pure rage, he felt as though he had proven his point.

"You are not a monster." He whispered. "Nor are you trying to become a monster." He jumped back into his mirror but Sakura's fist seemed to follow him. She smashed through the ice and snarled in pure rage when he slipped away into another.

"It is your God, that is forcing you to become the creature you, more than anyone else, fear."

* * *

 **So, update?**

 _ **Darque: I honestly don't know what we were thinking when we wrote this. We started off a little stuck but, as we wrote, it became like this.**_

 **Raven: This is a lot of dialogue.**

 _ **Darque: I know right? I honestly don't know where we were trying to go with this.**_

 **Raven: Haku most certainly was not supposed to poke at Sakura's loyalty at Jashin.**

 _ **Darque: But hey, I kind of like this too.**_

 **Raven: Well, it is the first time anyone has** **truly** **felt like they understood Sakura.**

 _ **Darque: Haku often has deep roles in our stories.**_

 **Raven: Indeed he does.**

 **Read and Review~**


	35. Life is like Drawing without an Eraser

_**Chapter THIRTY FIVE**_

Naruto did not know what he had been expecting when he arrived at the battlefield, late due to oversleeping, but it was most definitely not Sakura trying to claw off Zabuza's accomplice face off, mask and all. Had it not been for her pink hair, he would not have recognized her at all.

Her green eyes were wide and unblinking, and she threw herself at a bunch of ice walls with a ferocity he had never seen before. Sure, Sakura was always a little intense and the faith she had for her religion was probably unbeatable in terms of dedication, but currently, beneath all the burning rage, the girl just looked lost.

Naruto quickly spied Sasuke's form and hurried over to his male teammate. The Uchiha was standing protectively in front of their client and he glanced over as he approached. "Dobe-"

"What's going on?" Naruto cut him off and gestured towards Sakura's fight with his head. "What-"

"I don't know!" Sasuke snapped. "They talked for a bit, then she just snapped-"

The boy was cut off when Sakura let out another screech of sheer rage as the Hunter nin slipped into another one of his mirrors, just out of her range.

"They talked," Sasuke said. "He must have said something to set her off. I don't know, like insult her god?"

* * *

Haku had seen what Sakura could do. After all, she had somehow cut off Zabuza's arm by hacking off her own.

Still, as he danced out of Sakura's harsh attacks, she showed no signs of the transformation.

Perhaps his words had affected her so much that even in her current state, she was subconsciously holding back her use of her God's powers? Was that a sign of her trying to show that she was powerful enough on her own that she did not necessarily need her God's help? Or was she trying to show him that not everything she did was for her religion?

Or perhaps she was too lost to even realize what was going on now.

And this thought was only confirmed in his mind when he slipped up, just a little and only for a split second, and Sakura's hand harshly curled into his shirt and forcefully yanked him forwards and towards herself. He saw her other hand coming straight at his chest and a second later, it plunged right through him.

* * *

Sakura blinked when something warm covers her arm.

Blood, she realized, still a little dazed. Haku's blood, she noted as she slowly traced her arm up towards the figure it was pierced through.

"So I caught you," She muttered. She unceremoniously yanked her arm out and allowed Haku to fall forward into her. "And I killed you. I guess that means I win."

Haku gasped in pain and Sakura carefully maneuvered him so that the boy was lying across her lap.

"How was that?" She asked, not even knowing why she was asking the dying boy. She had beat him, after all; Didn't that mean she was better? Stronger?

"You can fill your heart with something other than fear," Haku whispered. "It doesn't have to be so...so ugly."

"Are you saying my God is ugly?" Sakura asked harshly, but she did not lash out again. After all, she could _feel_ Haku bleeding his life out over her arms, chest, and onto the already bloodstained floor. She did not have to rush his impending death. Jashin was patient enough to wait a few extra seconds, she was sure.

Haku chuckled. "I guess it's not a very smart thing to do, seeing as he's going to be judging me in a little bit."

"Jashin-sama does not discriminate," Sakura told him. "He does not care. Besides, you are _mine_. _I_ killed you. _I_ reaped your soul."

There was something unreadable in Haku's eyes as he assessed her. Sakura could see herself in the boy's eye, covered in blood and green eyes wide and glowing, drawn out by the crimson splatters on her face. The boy then slowly turned his head towards something a little away and Sakura followed his gaze, eyes landing on Naruto and Sasuke.

They were staring at her, eyes wide, and Sakura stared right back. She wondered what they were seeing, what they thought as they watched cradle the body of the boy she had just killed. If she had to guess, the looks on their faces were horror, or was it fear?

"How-how do I make it not ugly?" Sakura asked. "I love Jashin-sama. I don't-I don't want people to think-"

"I shouldn't have said what I said, or I shouldn't have said what I said the way I said it," Haku said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, really."

"You must have meant _something,_ " Sakura said. "You saw something."

"You're lonely, Sakura," Haku said simply, and the way he said her name made her insides curl. "You're scared of your God abandoning you. It doesn't matter if he won't," He said, when Sakura opened her mouth to deny it once again. "You're scared he will, and that's all that matters here. You're scared he'll leave you. That's why you're so afraid."

"I-"

"You think people don't understand you. You have to let them try."

Sakura thought of Shikamaru. He understood her, didn't he? She had to change the topic, even a little, she thought in sudden panic. "Yo-You said Zabuza is not forcing you to do anything. You said that he simply makes you want to. Isn't that the same as forcing?" Sakura asked, feeling uncharacteristically weak.

At this, Haku laughed. "Maybe that's true," He admitted. He let out a cough and blood splattered onto her cheek, reminding Sakura once again that the boy was dying, because she had killed him. "Sorry," Haku murmured.

"It's okay," Sakura stuck out her tongue and licked the blood off her lips.

Haku sighed. "Do you think I'll get to see your God?" He asked.

Sakura could see the way he was losing color. His blood was pooling into her hands, and when she separated her fingers, it dripped down her arm in streams. However, his eyes were still staring at her earnestly.

She hated him, she thought with a surge of anger. He had just appeared out of nowhere, spat on her beliefs, planted seeds of doubt, then was escaping to death, the place she could open the gates for others, but could not step through and follow herself.

"You will," She said. She reached up and smeared his blood onto his face, into something akin to her own skeletal marks when she entered the curse mode.

"You will."

* * *

 **Update~**

 _ **Darque: Was late, sorry.**_

 **Raven: Right.**

 ** _Darque: And still rushed._**

 **Raven: Right.**

 _ **Darque: Also, I'm working on an original story, and if anyone knows any websites where we could upload original stories for reviews, and stuff, please let us know.**_

 **Raven: Right, that too.**

 _ **Darque: What is wrong with you today?**_

 **Raven: Nothing. Just that I'm 120% sure you failed your exams.**

 _ **Darque: You mean the ones last week?**_

 **Raven: Yes, the ones you spent all your time gaming through when you should have been revising.**

 _ **Darque: Oops :) Also, die die die! pie pie pie! Muffins! I'm obsessed. If you understood that reference, you get a metaphorical cookie. It makes me smile and cry just thinking about it.**_

 **Raven:...Right...**

 _ **Darque: Also, drawing without an eraser. Just thinking about it makes me shudder.**_

 **Read and Review~**


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